Not What You Think
by Emma-Kitty
Summary: When Hermione finds a battered and bloody Draco on her front porch and helps him recover, she expects nothing to change. But something does . . .
1. Package on the Porch

Not What You Think

Chapter 1

Hermione Granger was sick of sitting in the car.  Her parents had dragged her on a vacation.  They'd driven all through the country, visiting famous landmarks and staying with not-so-famous relatives.  But she was finally home, the car was pulling into the driveway.  Finally, she could get some owls to Ron and Harry, learn something about the magical world she had abandoned to go on this vacation.

As Hermione stepped out of the car, she saw a mass of black cloth on the front steps of her house.  She went to see what it was while her parent unloaded the car.  When Hermione approached the cloth, she saw it slowly moving up and down.  Then she saw a hand and a tuft of white-blond hair.  She gasped.  On Hermione Granger's front porch, covered in blood and deathly pale, was Draco Malfoy.

A/N: Sorry, it's really short, but I wanted to leave a cliffy J.  I know, I'm so mean.  But the next chapter should be up this weekend.  So review and wait expectantly.  If no one wants me to continue this fic, I won't, but it's my first one and I hope you all like it!


	2. A Little Bit of This

Chapter 2  
  
Hermione let out a small scream of surprise. Draco was covered in blood. His hair was matted and dirty. He was breathing so slowly that Hermione thought he was dead for a moment. Her parents came running over as soon as they heard her cry. They saw the bloody boy on their porch and quickly moved to take him inside.  
  
"I'm going to call an ambulance," said Hermione's mother.  
  
"No," said Hermione, coming to her senses. "These are magical wounds, an ambulance won't help."  
  
"Well we have to do something," said Hermione's mother. "The boy's almost dead."  
  
"Call Dr. Klein, have him come here and look at Draco's wounds," Hermione was thinking quickly. "I'm going to go upstairs and owl Dumbledore."  
  
Hermione's mother did what Hermione had asked her, but didn't look very happy about it. Hermione ran upstairs to her room, where, thankfully, Hedwig was sitting on her windowsill, carrying letters from Harry. Hermione snatched the letters out of Hedwig's clutches and hurriedly wrote a message to Dumbledore.  
  
"Here, Hedwig. Take this to Dumbledore, and then come back for my letter to Harry. It's an emergency."  
  
Hedwig hooted in understanding and flew off out the window. Hermione ran back down the stairs to see her mother and father laying Draco on the living room couch.  
  
"Madam Pomfrey always says that the best thing to do for an unconscious person is let the wake up on their own," Hermione said when she saw her father trying to wake Malfoy. Hermione went to the kitchen to get a sponge and a bowl of hot water. She enlisted the help of her mother and had Malfoy stripped to his bare chest in no time. (Don't worry; he still had his pants on.) There were several deep cuts and bruises on his body and long gashes all across his chest and back. Blood covered his face from his nose down and the skin around his eyes was the color of the midnight sky.  
  
Hermione and her mother took the water and sponge and began to gently clean the wounds on Malfoy's body. Hermione's father was looking out for Dr. Klein, who had said he was coming within half an hour. Hermione had just washed the last of the blood off Malfoy's face when her father brought in Dr. Klein.  
  
"Everyone out of the way," Dr. Klein said. He was an imposing man, about 11/2 meters tall, with almost no hair, and a very round, red face. Everyone got out of his way.  
  
Dr. Klein began examining Malfoy. His face furrowed with concern as he listened to the young man's heart and breathing. Finally, he stood up.  
  
"I think he's going to be all right. But he's not out of the woods yet. He has a fracture in his right thigh bone and left ankle and those wounds are deep and strong. He also has major head trauma, which is probably why he's still unconscious. Our major problem right now is infection. If those wounds get infected, I don't think he'd be able to fight it. Keep them clean, wash them with hot water and bandage them with clean gauze and antiseptic three times a day. Incidentally, what happened to him?"  
  
"We don't know," said Hermione's father. "We came home and there he was."  
  
"I see. What's his name again?" asked Dr. Klein.  
  
"Tom. He's my cousin from Romania," said Hermione. "I knew he was here on holiday, but I didn't expect to see him until middle of next week."  
  
"Ah," said Dr. Klein, apparently satisfied, "well, put him in the hospital if you can, and if you can't then just call me if he doesn't wake up in three days. I would plan on him spending quite some time with you. I doubt he'll be able to move under his own power for at least six weeks, on account of his broken bones. I'll be in touch. I'm afraid I must be going now; I left an urgent case at the office. Call me and tell me of the boy's progress," Dr. Klein started moving toward the door. "Oh, and Mr. Granger, the boy's parents need to be notified. The threat of death is still upon him."  
  
Hermione's father nodded and Dr. Klein left the house.  
  
Hermione's family let out a collective sigh and all looked at each other. "Well," the look said, "what do we do now?"  
  
Just then, there was a loud crack and Albus Dumbledore appeared in front of the fireplace. He looked straight at Hermione and said, "Where is he?"  
  
Hermione led him to the couch, where the still unconscious Malfoy lay. Dumbledore bent over him, scrutinizing the boy through his half-moon glasses. Finally, he stood up.  
  
"There has been dark magic at work here. I fear for young Mr. Malfoy's life. Not only are his physical wounds quite serious, his psyche is not at all well. You will all have your hands full when he awakens. If he awakens," Dumbledore made no pretense of hiding his last sentence.  
  
"What do you mean 'if'?" said Hermione's mother.  
  
"When magic this powerful is used in such an iniquitous way, the victim often never recovers. I am sure Miss Granger is familiar with an example of this in the form of Neville Longbottom's parents. The only thing we can do is hope that Draco wakes up and soon. The longer he's unconscious, the harder it will be for him to pull out of it."  
  
Hermione and her family just stood in silence. "So, Malfoy may never wake up?"  
  
"Yes, Miss Granger, I believe that's what I have said. But, I do believe that Mr. Malfoy is very strong of will, which is several points in his favor. So take heart, my dear; all is not lost. Now, I'm afraid I must return to that which I came from. I left several people in complete disorder. Take care of Mr. Malfoy. Do not tell his parents he is here. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy have been quite undistressed by the disappearance of their son. I did not even know Draco was missing until your owl took me by surprise. But I shall see you very soon. Term starts in just approximately eight weeks, I believe. I shall tell Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley of your situation. Good luck, to all of you." And with that, there was another loud crack and Dumbledore was gone.  
  
"Well," said Hermione's mother, "what and odd man. What do we do now?"  
  
"We do exactly what Dumbledore said," said Hermione, going into her take charge mode. "Dad, would you please loan Malfoy some of your pajamas? I don't think it's very good for him to be wearing wizarding robes in a muggle house. If anyone asks, he's my cousin Tom from Romania, that's the same story we keep with Dr. Klein. Dad, if you could dress him, it would be much appreciated. I think it would be best if we move him into the guest room."  
  
Hermione's parents were used to dealing with her in this phase and they knew it was best to just do what she said. They prepared the guest room and put Malfoy into a pair of flannel pajamas. Malfoy didn't wake up the entire time. Hermione was beginning to worry.  
  
Evening came and Malfoy still hadn't woken up. Hermione was very worried. She sat in the big cushy chair they kept in the guest room. It was Hermione's favorite chair in the whole house. It was so comfortable. Hermione remembered when she had first learned to read, she would always bring a book to this room and sit in this chair with all the lights off and read by the sunlight that spilled in through the window. These thoughts were the last ones she remembered before drifting off to sleep.  
  
It was about 3:30 in the morning when she next woke up. She looked around to see what had startled her out of her sleep, and heard a noise coming from the bed. Draco was stirring.  
  
A/N: Well, there's the second chapter! Much longer, as promised. Hope you liked it! Now REVIEW!!! And thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter one. I just realized that I totally forgot the disclaimer. So here it is. All these character and such, except those that aren't in the Harry Potter novels or movies, belong to whoever it is that owns them, which is not me. I don't want to get in any trouble. I hope you liked this chapter! Coming up: does Hermione even want Draco to wake up? The next chapter should be up soon, I hope, but this next week is going to be kind of busy, so I don't know. But I'll work on it. 


	3. Cat in a Cage

Chapter 3  
  
A/N: WARNING!!!!! This chapter contains a scene of child abuse. It's not graphic, but if you have a problem with this kind of content, don't read this chapter, or skip that part. You'll know it before you read it, trust me.  
  
Hermione got up and walked over to the bed and bent over the stirring form of Malfoy. She brushed some hair out of his face and whispered his name, her brow furrowed in concern.  
  
"Draco?" Hermione whispered to him.  
  
"Father . . . please . . . don't," were the only discernable words that came from his lips. He kept moaning as if in pain and clutching and picking at the sheets. The activity seemed to heighten and he kept babbling louder and louder until finally, he gave a loud gasp and his eyes flew open. Hi looked around for a few moments until the fear had gone out of his eyes, replaced by an expression of confusion.  
  
"Where the hell am I?" he said as though he still hadn't noticed Hermione and he was talking to himself.  
  
"You're in my house," Hermione said quietly, not wanting to startle him.  
  
Malfoy sat up, startled.  
  
"No, no," said Hermione gently, "lie back down, it's all right."  
  
Draco stood up and tried to get away from her, attempting to draw himself up to his full height. He fell back on the back with a painful groan. "What happened?"  
  
"My, aren't we chatty this morning. Or should I say night?" said Hermione. "I don't know, I'm all confused."  
  
"Shut up, Mud blood, I asked you a question," Malfoy spat.  
  
There's the Malfoy we all know and love, Hermione thought. "I don't know what happened Malfoy; I was hoping you could tell me. What is the last thing you remember?" Hermione's voice softened.  
  
"What I remember is none of your business," said Malfoy ferociously. "How did I come to be in this house?" He looked around the room as though it was infested with something.  
  
"I don't know a lot about that either, actually--"  
  
"You're telling me you don't know what goes on in a house that's supposed to be yours?"  
  
"Do you know everything that goes on in Malfoy Manor?"  
  
Malfoy gave her an icy glare.  
  
"I wasn't finished, you know," said Hermione. "I was going to say that I now how you got into my house, but I don't know much beyond that. I came home from a highly unsatisfactory family vacation and you were on my front porch, covered in blood."  
  
"You're lying," said Malfoy.  
  
"I'm not. You can check your robes. The stains are still there," Hermione said. Her voice and face suddenly softened. "What happened to you, Malfoy?"  
  
He looked very confused and went to the corner of the room she had pointed at and picked up the pile of his robes. They were in tatters and covered in blood stains, creating even darker spots on the midnight black fabric. He turned around to face her with a look of disbelief and horror on his face. "I don't remember," he said.  
  
"Well," said Hermione matter-of-factly, "Dumbledore didn't say you'd fallen victim to a memory charm, and I'm sure he would have if he'd known you had. So the next logical conclusion is repression."  
  
"What?" he said.  
  
"Repression. It's a coping mechanism where your subconscious pulls images and memories out of your brain that are too traumatic for you to deal with. I learned about in a sociology class I took this summer."  
  
"Oh," he said disgustedly, "muggle psychoanalysis crap. I can assure you that's not what's going on."  
  
"Whatever you say Malfoy."  
  
"What happened to me?" he said. "My head is throbbing and my gut feels like someone put a knife in it. And my legs feel like they're on fire."  
  
"Well, the knife in your gut isn't too far off. As for you legs, you have a broken right femur and a crushed left ankle. That means no walking for several weeks. Not even with crutches. Dr. Klein said we can get a wheelchair if we need it. Now, I need to know what the last thing you remember is."  
  
"Why?" asked Malfoy, his voice stony and expression was the mirror image of it.  
  
"To try and figure out what happened to you," said Hermione seriously. "I can't be sure about how to treat your wounds until I know what made them."  
  
"I don't want to tell you what I remember. I'm not even sure anymore," Malfoy said.  
  
"Try."  
  
Malfoy thought for a minute. "The last thing I remember, I was with my father," he swallowed slowly, not wanting to continue. Hermione had never seen him so afraid or vulnerable. "He was taking me somewhere," Draco concentrated for a minute, "he was taking me to--" Draco suddenly paled and a look of horror came over his face.  
  
"What?" Hermione pressed.  
  
"Nothing. You may go now, I am quite capable of sleeping by myself until morning," Malfoy pulled his blankets up to his chin and turned out the light, preparing to sleep. No matter how hard Hermione pressed him, he refused to say another word. She was starting to get really mad at him when the sound of his deep even breathing told her he was asleep. She sighed in frustration and quietly crept up to her room.  
  
Hermione lay on her bed, trying to put the day's events into order. It bothered her when things wouldn't fit into an order, and this day was falling into her list of 'Things That Really Annoy Me.' Her feelings were number one on her list. Why was she trying to help Draco Malfoy? Hadn't he always been the bastard who called her mud blood and had made her teeth grow that time in fourth year? But then that day, that day had changed everything.  
  
It had been in Diagon Alley. Hermione had been walking around, looking for Ron and Harry the summer before sixth year. She had seen Draco and his father from a distance. They were in a dark side street and Hermione could see them yelling at each other, even if she couldn't hear it over the noise of the busy wizarding alley. Then Lucius Malfoy had stopped yelling and a look of wild terror came into Draco Malfoy's face. Lucius raised his elaborate cane and began to beat down on Draco with it. He beat and beat with his strokes coming down harder and harder until Draco was knocked to ground with the force of the blow. He had covered his head and neck with his hands and waiting for it to be all over. When Lucius's anger had subsided and the cane had finally fallen for the last time, he kicked Draco and ordered him to get up. Draco shakily got to his feet and wiped blood from his face, trying to hide his limp and not hold his bruised abdomen. He had quietly followed his father out into the main Alley and up the street with the same iced over expression he always wore. But for a very brief moment, Hermione had seen an emotion in those icy gray eyes: pain. Hermione had thought that nothing could hurt a Malfoy, but apparently another Malfoy could. Nothing had changed at school, nothing had changed at all. Except Hermione. She could not get it out of her head that Malfoy had a weakness. He was human now and she could think of him as nothing else. Maybe tomorrow would bring the day when he would think of her as human, too.  
  
A/N: Well, there you go! I hope this chapter explains a lot. You have all been so great about your reviews. Please keep reviewing; you have no idea how good it makes me feel to know that you all like my story. I hope that you all understand why Hermione is helping him better, I tried to explain it. Oh, and the whole standing up while he had two broken legs thing, he was having a very frightening vision in his sleep and had the whole adrenaline thing going. So yeah. Review, please! The next chapter will be up soon, I hope, but I'm doing three research projects at the same time in school, so you may have to wait a week or more. Sorry :( ! It's not my fault! Hope you liked this chapter! Review this lots! 


	4. Breakfast

Chapter 4  
  
"Morning Malfoy," said Hermione as she walked into the guest room carrying a tray full of food. The lump of blankets in the middle of the bed groaned.  
  
"Is it typical muggle behavior to wake people in the middle of the night?" the lump said.  
  
"No," said Hermione as she set down the tray and went over to open the curtains on the window. Cheery sunlight streamed into the room. "But it's almost noon, Malfoy, not the middle of the night."  
  
"It's the middle of the night if I say so," Malfoy said, poking his head out from under the blankets. His two black eyes made him look like a raccoon. "Now stop letting in light, it's making me awake."  
  
"Oh, stop being such a vampire," Hermione said. She took the tray and sat it on the bed. "Can you sit up?"  
  
"I am perfectly capable of sitting up, mudblood, now leave me alone," Malfoy growled.  
  
"No," said Hermione, "I'm here to change the dressings on your wounds. Here, eat this," Hermione handed him a piece of toast.  
  
"What's on it?" Malfoy asked in disgust.  
  
"My mother's homemade peach jam. Now lie back and take off your shirt,"  
  
"Not a chance on your life," said Malfoy.  
  
"I need to change the dressings before the wounds get infected," Hermione said exasperatedly.  
  
"I don't care," said Malfoy. He still hadn't taken a bite of the toast.  
  
"You'll die if they get infected," Hermione said. "Not that I care, I just thought maybe you wanted to live to see your eighteenth birthday, but far be it for me to make such assumptions. After all, I am only the head of our class and most promising young student in a hundred years at Hogwarts. Why would I know anything?"  
  
"And you're a filthy mudblood, you're right, why would you know anything?"  
  
"If you really want to live Malfoy you had better do as I ask," Hermione was starting to get very angry.  
  
"Or else what?"  
  
"Or else nothing!" Hermione was really really mad. It was going to be a long rest of the summer. "I will simply let nature take its course."  
  
Malfoy shot darts at her with his eyes, but slipped off his shirt and leaned back. "Bet you've always wanted too see me with my shirt off, huh, Granger?"  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes and removed the blood-soaked bandages from Draco's body. She took a bowl of hot water and a sponge from the tray she had carried in with her and began to wash the blood from the wounds. "Eat, I said," said Hermione. It bothered her to have Draco just lying there.  
  
"I detest peaches," said Malfoy.  
  
"Then eat the bacon," said Hermione.  
  
Malfoy obeyed. He liked bacon.  
  
Hermione finished washing the blood away and began to bandage the wounds again. Malfoy's skin was scarred and callused. Not smooth and cream like she had expected. She figured it had been from the years of abuse he had received at home. She noticed a small scar on the right side of his stomach in the shape of a scull.  
  
"Malfoy, what's this?" she asked pointing to it.  
  
"None of your business, mudblood. Are you done yet?"  
  
"Yes, actually, I am. Enjoy your breakfast, Malfoy," Hermione left the room and retreated to the living room. Maybe there was something good on TV. She flipped it on to a news report.  
  
"An attack in a shopping mall today has left three dead and countless injured. Several unknown assailants all clothed in black cloaks attacked a group of people in the food court of a New York shopping mall today. Police say the suspects belonged to a world-wide gang that had been particularly active lately. This attack is said to be the latest in a rash of gang-related crime all over the world," Hermione turned the channel. Voldemort was still on the loose, going after muggles every chance he got. We must hurry and win this war if we ever hope to have even semi-normal lives again. I can't keep living in constant fear. Things had gone bad once the Dementors had gone over to Voldemort. The giants had, too. But most of the magical community had stayed loyal to Dumbledore and the Ministry. At least after the events of Hermione's fifth year. But Harry had been learning a lot and Hermione could feel the time drawing close when it would all be over. And Professor Trelawney said I didn't have an aura, Hermione smiled to herself.  
  
Hermione went up to her room to owl Harry and Ron. Her parents had returned to work. They didn't want to leave her alone in house with Malfoy and make her take care of him, but what could they do about it? They'd both already taken a lot of time off for the vacation.  
  
Hermione owled Harry and Ron, telling them what was up, and then she sent a letter to Dumbledore, asking what she should do with Malfoy now. She sent them off and went to do some homework when suddenly she heard a loud scream from Draco's room. Hermione raced down the stair and into the guest room. Malfoy was sitting bolt upright on the bed, a very difficult feat on account of his broken legs. His face was paler than Hermione had ever seen it and his eyes were wide with fear.  
  
"What's the matter?" Hermione asked. "I heard you scream."  
  
Draco's face quickly returned to normal as he realized where he was. "Nothing, Granger, I just had a nightmare."  
  
"Well, it must have been a most terrifying nightmare to make the great Draco Malfoy scream like that."  
  
"I was asleep; I didn't know what I was doing. And if you breathe a word to anybody, I swear I will make your life a living hell. And you know I can," Malfoy was back to his normal self, no emotion showed in his icy gray eyes except anger.  
  
"Don't worry, Malfoy, your secret is safe with me," said Hermione. She knew it was dangerous to tease a Malfoy, but what could he do to her now? He had two broken legs; he couldn't even get from his bed to the bathroom by himself. Besides, Hermione got a certain thrill from living dangerously.  
  
Draco threw a full glass of orange juice at her. He missed and it hit the door frame, splattering everywhere and shattering the glass.  
  
"Well," said Hermione, "no more breakables for you."  
  
A ceramic plate full of scrambled eggs and toast with peach jam hit the wall on the other side of her head.  
  
"Fine, fine, I get the message. I'm going to go get some supplies so I can clean this up. Back in a few minutes," Hermione went out the kitchen and got a rag and a trash bag and the vacuum cleaner for the broken glass. She went back to Draco's room and began to clean up the mess. She was just about to say something when she heard the front door knob rattling and clicking. Then the distinctive squeak of the front door opening. Suddenly, she heard a cold, rasping breath, and three Dementors swarmed into the room, trapping her and Draco.  
  
A/N: Okay, there you go! You can stop freaking out now! If this chapter sounds forced, that's because it is. I know where I'm going, but I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get there. Don't worry, though, more excitement is to come. I also plan on starting another fic soon. I don't know what I'm going to call it, but it is not going to be a Hermione/Malfoy. It's going to be a Hermione/Snape. You don't have to read it if you don't like the pairing, but it will be good, believe me. I'm not sure when I'm going to have the next chapter up, but sometime soon, I hope. My teachers are starting to lay off on the projects, I think. I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can! 


	5. Living with a Malfoy

Chapter 5  
  
The Dementors swarmed around them and Hermione could feel her blood getting cold and the most awful things were starting to force themselves into her head. She could hear Draco moaning; he was curled in a ball. Hermione was fumbling for her wand.  
  
"Expecto Patronum!" Hermione yelled. A silver otter shot out of the end of her wand, chasing after the Dementors, chasing them out of the house. Hermione finally felt happiness coming back. Malfoy was lying on the bed again.  
  
"What the hell was that, Granger?" he asked. His legs were in excruciating pain again.  
  
"That was Dementors, Malfoy, what did you think they were?" Hermione got up and left the room.  
  
"Where are you going? Leaving me alone to die, I suppose," Malfoy shouted after her.  
  
"I'm not leaving you to die," Hermione called back over her shoulder. She returned a few minutes later with a small plastic canister and two spoons. "I'm getting this."  
  
"What is that?" Malfoy asked suspiciously.  
  
"Chocolate frosting," said Hermione.  
  
"It comes in cans?" Malfoy asked.  
  
Hermione opened the can and took out a scoop of frosting. She handed the spoon to Draco.  
  
"It's a muggle invention to make their lives easier, now eat this, and you'll feel better," he looked paler than he should.  
  
"I'm not eating some muggle concoction. I'll probably die," he said.  
  
"Suit yourself," said Hermione as she ate some frosting off her own spoon.  
  
"Do you know any pain-relieving spells?" Draco demanded; the pain in his legs was getting worse every second.  
  
"Yes," said Hermione, "but I can't use magic, it's summer. And I'll already be in trouble for the Patronus."  
  
"Can't you do something about the pain?" he asked her. Hermione could see the torture in his eyes.  
  
"I have some Aleve in the bathroom, give me a second," said Hermione.  
  
"What's Aleve?" Draco asked.  
  
Hermione returned from the bathroom with the bottle of pills in her hand. She also had a glass of water. "This is Aleve, Malfoy," Hermione said. "It's a muggle pain killer, and it's actually quite effective."  
  
"I told you I don't want anything muggle," said Malfoy, angrily. He was becoming more infuriated by the minute.  
  
"I can't give you anything else!" Hermione was angry with him for being angry with her. It wasn't her fault she wasn't allowed to do magic. "Here, take these pills and swallow them," Hermione said handing him the pills and water.  
  
Malfoy looked at her ferociously, and took the pills. He was willing to do anything to get rid of the pain. "My legs still hurt," he said after a minute. "I thought you said those things would work!"  
  
"It takes a minute," said Hermione. "The medicine has to go through your bloodstream before it can take affect."  
  
Malfoy stared at her. "So what do you want, Granger, why aren't you leaving?"  
  
Hermione sighed. She couldn't wait until her parents came home and there was someone else to talk to.  
  
* * *  
  
Hermione woke up late the next morning. She stretched languidly and yawned, relishing the sun spilling onto her bed through the window. She loved sleeping late, despite her reputation as a morning person. It was then that she heard Malfoy's call.  
  
"Granger!" Malfoy's room was on the first floor and Hermione's was on the second, so he was yelling incredibly loudly if she could actually hear it. She wished whoever had beaten him up had bruised his vocal cords.  
  
Hermione wearily got out of bed, putting on her purple velvet robe and walking down the stairs. "What is it, Malfoy?" she asked him.  
  
"Where's my breakfast?" he demanded.  
  
"Well," said Hermione, insulted, "you threw your breakfast at me yesterday, so I figured you probably didn't want any today."  
  
"Fat chance, Granger. Now, what's for breakfast?"  
  
"Nothing that I know of. I've only been up for 2 minutes," Hermione was getting more annoyed by the second.  
  
"Well, think of something quick, I'm getting hungry," Malfoy thoroughly enjoyed making her angry like this.  
  
"It just so happens that Mum went shopping yesterday and brought back something for breakfast. Be back soon," Hermione refused to let a Malfoy get the better of her. She went out into the kitchen and put some water on to boil. If Malfoy wanted breakfast, he would get breakfast.  
  
Hermione returned to Malfoy's room a few minutes later with a bowl of steaming instant oatmeal. She'd given Malfoy Peaches 'N' Cream flavor.  
  
"What's that?" Malfoy asked.  
  
"Oatmeal," said Hermione.  
  
"Doesn't smell like oatmeal," said Malfoy.  
  
"It's instant," said Hermione. "A muggle convenience food."  
  
"I told you, I don't want any Muggle food. They might have poisons in them or something."  
  
"Oh," said Hermione, "I have no doubt that poisons are a key ingredient in instant oatmeal, but it just makes it all the more tasty. Bon Apetit, Malfoy," Hermione set the bowl down on the bedside table and left the room to make her own breakfast. If Malfoy was really hungry, he'd have to choke down the oatmeal.  
  
Hermione thought about what she had to do that day. She promised her mother she would sort and fold the laundry and she had some homework to do; beyond that, the day was hers. Her father had brought back a wheelchair last night, so Malfoy could get up and move around. But Hermione wasn't sure she would tell him about that just yet. Maybe a visit from Dumbledore was in order. Hermione heard Malfoy calling for her from his room again. Couldn't that boy do anything for himself?  
  
"What is it Malfoy?" Hermione said angrily.  
  
"I'm bored," he said, fixing her with a look that said 'I'm going to make your life hell and there's nothing you can do about it.'  
  
"Well, I have just the solution," Hermione said. She wasn't going to let anyone but herself make her life hell. "Dad brought home a wheelchair last night. I can take you out into the living room today."  
  
"Oh, what an adventure," Malfoy said sarcastically.  
  
"Would you rather stay here for the next six weeks?" Hermione said.  
  
Mafloy glared at her.  
  
"That's what I thought," said Hermione. She got the wheelchair out of the hall closet and brought it into the guestroom. She unfolded it and set it next to the bed. "Here, Malfoy, put your arms around my neck."  
  
"Why?" He said suspiciously.  
  
"So that I can lift you into the chair," sighed Hermione. Malfoys were such babies. Draco gaped at her, but did as he was told. Hermione was about to lift him into the chair when she realized how heavy he was. He wasn't flabby at all, but had hard muscles that were just dead weight without the use of his legs.  
  
"Can't you help at all?" Hermione grunted as she tried for the fourth time to lift him into the chair.  
  
"No, I can't. Nice skill, Granger. Remind me to never recommend you for a job in St. Mungo's," Malfoy said.  
  
"Shut up, Malfoy," Hermione finally half lifted, half dragged him into the wheelchair. "Well," she said, breathing heavily, "I got my work out for the day."  
  
"Shut up, Granger," Malfoy said.  
  
Hermione wheeled him out to the living room and turned on the TV. Then she went to the laundry room and brought out the basket of clothes. She flipped through channels until she came to a mildly interesting program that looked like a soap opera. She began pulling clothes out of the basket and folding them. She had been folding for a few minutes and was watching an unusually witty commercial when Malfoy said,  
  
"Is that YOURS, Granger?!" Hermione realized she was folding a pink lacy bra that belonged to her mother. She broke up laughing.  
  
"No, Malfoy," said Hermione through her giggles, "this isn't mine, it's my mother's," Malfoy turned a brilliant shade of red. "I take a slightly smaller size, but I'll be sure and tell mum that you were impressed," Hermione said, still laughing hysterically.  
  
"I wasn't impressed, Granger," he sneered. "I was just wondering if you were even more of freak of nature than I thought."  
  
Hermione instantly sobered. "Like you can talk, Malfoy. You forget, I was the one who changed you into my father's pajamas when you were unconscious. Wasn't exactly impressed by what I found," Hermione was lying, but Malfoy didn't know that. He paled.  
  
"Shut up, Granger. What is this bloody box anyway?" he asked, pointing at the TV.  
  
"It's called a television," said Hermione, speaking very slowly, as though she were talking to a child. "It works similarly to wizarding photographs, but the pictures tell a story, if you listen to the sound. Here, I'll show you," Hermione turned up the volume and Malfoy started to pay attention. After a few minutes, he was completely engrossed. Hermione smiled.  
  
She finished sorting the clothes and went to owl Dumbledore.  
  
'Dear Professor,' she wrote.  
  
'Malfoy has woken up. He's been awake for about two days now, and seems to be acting fine. Or as fine as a Malfoy can act. I just thought you would like to know. Please let me know what to do with him for the time being. I hope to see you soon, Hermione'  
  
She attached the letter to the leg of a large hoot owl named Wilhelmina that she kept around for her own personal use and went back to see how Malfoy was doing. He was still completely caught up in the television program.  
  
And so the days passed. A few days turned into a few weeks and Hermione and Mafloy kept up the same routine; Hermione would introduce Draco to new things and she would do her chores, with a good deal of arguments throw in. They fought almost every hour they were together. The only time a respite from the arguing came when Malfoy and Hermione were watching TV. Hermione rented some videos one day and showed them to him. He particularly enjoyed Star Wars. He distinctly disliked Hermione's favorite movie, The Sound of Music. "All the bloody music is enough to kill any wizard," he said. Then they had another argument about good music vs. bad music. Still, they seemed to reach, certainly not a friendship, but an understanding. They didn't just hate each other any more, even though neither one of them would admit it. Hermione and Dumbledore kept up a running correspondence, particularly in regard to Draco's injuries and recovery. Along about the third week, Hermione received a surprising letter from Professor Dumbledore.  
  
'Dear Hermione, I hope that you and Mr. Malfoy are well. As I have said in my previous letters, it is imperative that his presence at your home be kept a secret. I will be coming later on this afternoon, if that is all right, to talk with the both of you. Do not tell anyone that Draco is at your house or that I am coming. See you later on, I hope. Albus Dumbledore'  
  
Hermione closed the letter and thought. What was so important that Dumbledore was coming here? Wasn't school starting in just a few weeks? Shouldn't he be doing other things? Hermione had done as he had said and kept Malfoy's presence at her house a secret, even from her closest friends in the muggle world. But why? Why was all this secrecy necessary? And why hadn't Draco's parents tried to find him. She had been in touch with Ron and no one had said anything about Draco Malfoy being missing. Everything was quite normal in the wizarding world. What on earth was going? Hermione felt almost like she was in the first act of Macbeth, where "fair was foul and foul was fair."  
  
Just then, Dumbledore Apparated into the living room.  
  
"Hello, Hermione," he said. "How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine, Professor, thank you."  
  
"Where is young Mr. Malfoy?"  
  
Hermione pointed to the wheelchair, situated in front of the TV. Malfoy was engrossed in a soap opera.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy?" Dumbledore said.  
  
"What?" Draco looked up. Hermione flipped off the TV.  
  
"I believe we have some things we need to discuss."  
  
"I have nothing to discuss with you, old man," said Malfoy, his usual persona coming back into play.  
  
Dumbledore didn't look phased by the insult. "I'm afraid we do, Mr. Malfoy. It pertains to a small incident approximately one month ago involving your father."  
  
At this, Malfoy paused. His usually stony face dissolved into an expression of weariness. "All right," said Malfoy. "But Granger can't hear what we're going to say. I don't trust her."  
  
"Well, what a nice thing to say, Malfoy," said Hermione. "I was going to go up to my room anyway." Imagine, Malfoy not trusting her, Hermione thought on her way up the stairs. If anything, she should be the one to not trust him. Hermione went up to her room and was tempted to listen to their conversation through the ventilation system in the house, but decided that if she really wanted Draco to trust her, she probably should just leave well enough alone. But then, why would she want Draco to trust her?  
  
After about an hour and a half, Hermione was beginning to get extremely bored and hungry when Dumbledore called up to her that she could come downstairs now.  
  
Hermione practically galloped down the stairs. She stopped short when she noticed that Malfoy had lost his usual look of tightly controlled emotion. He looked nothing but terrified now. "What's the matter, Draco?" Hermione asked.  
  
"None of your bloody business, Granger," Malfoy snarled. Hermione looked hurt. She thought they had reached at least an understanding.  
  
"Don't worry, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said to her privately. "He's dealing with some very big things right now. It might be best if you just leave him alone," Hermione nodded and Dumbledore Apparated away.  
  
There was silence for a full five minutes before the distraught look on Draco's face distressed Hermione so much that she finally asked him, "Are you sure there's nothing I can do, Draco?"  
  
"Bloody Mudblood, just leave me alone!" he shouted at her. "I'm sick and tired of being stuck in this hell-hole all day having to listen to you and your bitchy parents complain about your pathetic muggle lives!"  
  
Malfoy didn't have a chance to say any more. Something inside of Hermione had snapped when he said something about her parents. All the years of insults, all the hours of torture, had finally taken their toll. The camel's back had finally been broken, and, unfortunately for him, the straw that had broken it had been Draco.  
  
"Don't you DARE say that about my parents!" Hermione screamed back at him. "I don't care if you insult me or my house or my cooking or my life! Just don't you ever say one damn thing about my parents! Everyone at school was right, you are an insufferable bastard. I hope you rot in hell," Hermione stomped up to her room and slammed the door behind her. Malfoy could stay downstairs and take care of himself for the next few hours until her parents got home and they could help him.  
  
A/N 1: Okay, I know, it was REALLY boring. But I had to do something! I promise, the next chapter will better. I'm sorry I'm not one of those great writers who can hold your attention through an atomic blast, but I can't help it. Anyway, please review. I don't care if you hated it, just tell me so. I know where this is going, so don't worry, the next chapter will be much more interesting. Sorry! Don't hurt me! The next chapter should be up in a week or so!  
  
A/N 2: Sorry it took so long, I was having technology problems. My teachers are starting to pile on the homework and I've been getting busier and busier as the week goes on, so it might be awhile before the next update. But I haven't abandoned the story, don't worry. It just might take awhile. I hope you like this chapter! I'll have the next one up soon, I hope! 


	6. New Revelations

Chapter 6  
  
Hermione woke up the next morning and listened for Draco's call. It didn't come. The she remembered the fight, which explained the heavy feeling in her stomach. She got up and showered and went downstairs, heading straight for the kitchen. She made a bowl of instant oatmeal and tiptoed into Malfoy's room and set the bowl on the night table. Draco was pretending to be asleep . Hermione wouldn't have make anything for him, but she knew he couldn't take care of himself and she couldn't just let him starve and die. She just refused to speak to him during the day.  
  
Their lives were like this for the next two weeks. They didn't speak another word to each other before they had to go back to school. When Draco had started to walk again about a week before the start of term, Hermione had remained silent. She could tell it hurt him and her heart went out to him. But her lips remained shut. She could see the sweat on his forehead every step he took, and still refused to speak to him. She did, however, purchase his school supplies on her trip to Diagon Alley. She left them on his bed, with no note or anything, and let him find them by himself.  
  
Hermione's parent's drove them both to King's Cross Station and waved good- bye to them as they went through the portal to Platform 9 ¾. Hermione and Draco parted ways in silence.  
  
"Hi, guys," said Hermione when she met up with Harry and Ron.  
  
"Hey, Hermione," they said. "What's wrong?" Hermione was not her usual chipper self.  
  
"Oh, I'll tell you guys later," said Hermione. Dumbledore told her not to discuss Malfoy's presence at her home. "Let's hurry and find a carriage.  
  
"All right," said Harry. He had become the peace-maker between Ron and Hermione over the years nd he kept every one under control.  
  
"They all got on the train and rode to Hogwarts while Hermione told them about her summer in private.  
  
"Geez, Hermione, I'm sorry," said Ron. "You could have come to the Burrow.  
  
"No, I couldn't have just left anyone there to take care of themselves. Even Malfoy." Hermione said.  
  
"I know, Hermione," said Harry. "It's just not in your nature to let anyone suffer, no matter how much you hate them."  
  
"Believe me," said Hermione, "I didn't make things easy for him. And I haven't spoken to him for the last three weeks."  
  
"We should probably change into our robes now," said Ron after a moment.  
  
They all put their robes on just in time to feel the train stop at Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stepped out off the train and made their way to the Great Hall. Hermione caught glimpses of Draco, not that she was looking for him, but he was always with his Slythiern friends, laughing and picking on the first years.  
  
Hermioen went through the motions of watching the sorting and eating the feast. But all the while a cloud was hanging over her head, a cloud that hadn't left her since her fight with Draco. She didn't know hwy it was affecting her so much. She just couldn't shake the feeling of depression hanging around her. She decided to retire early and went up to her room after showing the Common Room to the new first years. Hermione walked over to her bed after changing into her night clothes and lay down across it. Maybe should would feel better in the morning. She noticed a piece of folded parchment resting on her pillow. Hermione reached for it and unfolded it. The writing was unfamiliar, but Hermione soon knew who the author was.  
  
Hermione- it read.  
Well, I bet you're surprised to hear, er, read this from me. To be honest, I'm surprised at myself. My kind of people aren't supposed to do these kinds of things. So, I guess what I'm trying to say, is, I'm sorry. Wow. My first apology. What would my father say? What would anyone say? You were the only person who ever showed me true kindness. I'm sorry I didn't realize that until now. This can't change anything between us, Granger, but I thought you should know how much what you did means to me. See you around, Granger, Malfoy  
  
Hermione jumped off of her bed and scribbled a hurried not. She rushed out of Gryffindor tower and ran straight into a Slythiern second year.  
  
"Here," she told him, "Give this to Draco Malfoy,"  
  
The young student nodded to her and ran off.  
  
That night, Draco unfolded a piece of parchment and read the unfamiliar writing:  
  
Draco- it read, Everything has changed between us. Thank you. Hermione.  
  
A/N: Well, there you go. Sorry if it seemed kind of OOC, but I wanted to hurry up and get to the action. I don't know when the next chapter will be up, but I'll try getting it up soon! Everything is really busy lately, so you'll just have to be patient. I apologize for any mechanical errors in this chapter, I was speed typing. Hope you liked it! Thanks to all of you who have reviewed, it means a lot to me. And for those of you who didn't just catch that hint, please review! Thanks! 


	7. Brewing a Potion and Living a Life

Chapter 7  
  
Severus Snape had just sat down at his desk with a warm cup of tea when a knock came at his door. "Enter," he barked, annoyed at being interrupted while trying to grade the first essays of the term. His annoyance turned into surprise when the tall form of Draco Malfoy entered his classroom.  
  
"Can I help you with something, Mr. Malfoy?" Snape asked in his usual gruff voice.  
  
Malfoy looked thoughtful. "No, sir, I don't think you can after all. I'm sorry I bothered you." Malfoy made to leave.  
  
"Sit down, Mr. Malfoy. What could possibly be troubling your teenaged brain?"  
  
Malfoy sat down and cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I assume that you, as a member of the Dark Lord's inner circle, are aware of my . . . adventure . . . this summer.  
  
Snape looked mildly surprised, but immediately hid the emotions under a tightly controlled facade. "I am. But not as a member of the Dark Lord's inner circle. The Headmaster has made sure I am quite familiar with the goings on of the Death Eater children at the school."  
  
Now it was Malfoy's turn to look surprised again. "You're a spy?"  
  
"Please, Mr. Malfoy, even I gave you more credit than that. Surely you figured it out before now."  
  
Malfoy shook his head. "I had no idea."  
  
Snape rolled his eyes. "Good God what a waste," he muttered under his breath so that no one could hear him. "At any rate, I believe you had something you wished to discuss with me? It had better be good, my tea is getting cold."  
  
"Yes, Professor," said Malfoy. "I have come to ask your advice on a personal matter."  
  
"Wait," said Snape, bringing his hand up to his face and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Your personal life or mine?"  
  
"Mine," said Malfoy.  
  
"Good," said Snape. "Continue."  
  
"Well," said Malfoy, "there's this girl--"  
  
"Mr. Malfoy, I highly doubt that I am the best person to ask for advice of this sort. Perhaps you should question your father; I seem to remember him having a way with the young ladies in his Hogwarts days."  
  
Malfoy's face steeled and his expression became one of tightly controlled anger. "If you are aware of the events of my summer vacation, you must also be aware of their cause," there was cold fury in Malfoy's voice. "My father is dead to me."  
  
Snape regarded the boy with an eyebrow raised. His eyes showed a glimmer of something, perhaps respect? "I understand, Mr. Malfoy. You may continue."  
  
Malfoy resumed his discussion with Snape. "There's this girl. I keep having . . . dreams about her. Not those kinds of dreams, Professor," Malfoy noticed Snape's eyebrows raise about two meters, "I would never degrade her in that fashion. But, she's the most alluring girl I've ever met. Being around her drives me crazy, but not being with her makes me sick. I-I used to hate her. Part of me still does, I think, the part my father still controls; but - it's different now. It's like she suddenly went from being an animal to being human." Malfoy looked astonished that he had actually spoken those words. He hadn't intended to, he only meant to ask what color roses he should get at the next Hogsmeade weekend. Snape looked equally astonished to hear these words come from Malfoy's mouth.  
  
"Well, Mr. Malfoy," said Snape after a moment's silence. "I'm afraid I don't have a lot of . . . experience . . . where the opposite sex is concerned, but I do know that women appreciate honesty. Have you told her how she makes you feel?" This was not said in a fatherly manner or even tenderly. It was very business-like and matter-of-fact. Draco was grateful for this. He could understand something stated matter-of-factly, but tenderness was completely foreign to him.  
  
"No, sir, I have not. I'm almost positive she doesn't feel the same way. Malfoys are not accustomed to rejection," Malfoy also spoke with flat tones and minimal emotional inflections.  
  
"Almost positive," said Snape. "You are a less than adequate Potions student, Mr. Malfoy, as I am sure you're aware," Malfoy blushed. He knew that Snape spoke the truth, "so I will attempt to accomplish two tasks at one time. What is the most important action when creating a potion?"  
  
"You must observe it and, if necessary, experiment a bit," Malfoy was secretly pleased with himself.  
  
"And what is the second most important thing when creating a potion?"  
  
"You must . . . um . . . "  
  
"Adjust to the potion, Mr. Malfoy. The potion will tell you what it needs. All you have to do is ask it and listen for its answer. Do you understand what I'm saying?"  
  
Malfoy simply gave him a blank look.  
  
Snape sighed. "The same thing applies to life, Mr. Malfoy. Observe the girl, she may not be as unresponsive as you think. Take chances. Experiment with the situation. Listen to her body language. You can learn a lot from how a person walks and talks when they're around you. Always put her needs before your own. She may guess your feelings without you having to go through the humiliation of actually telling them to her. Treat her like, well, like the most important witch in the world."  
  
"She is the most important witch in the world. I've never met anyone more dynamic or enticing or beautiful or--"  
  
"I get the point Mr. Malfoy!" Snape quickly cut the boy off. He didn't wish to hear anyone's romantic ramblings, least of all Draco Malfoy's. (A/N: See if you can guess the double meaning here.) "The question is do you get mine?"  
  
Malfoy nodded.  
  
"Then I believe I am finished. Now if you'll excuse me, I have essays that need to be graded." Snape adjusted himself in the chair and turned his attention to the scrolls of parchment in front of him.  
  
Malfoy stood to go.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy?" asked Snape as Draco had his hand on the knob.  
  
"Yes?" said Draco, turning.  
  
"Do not underestimate Miss Granger," Snape said with an evil grin hidden behind his mug of now cold tea. "She is smarter than you think."  
  
Draco paled, nodded curtly and left.  
  
A/N: Sorry, about the unforgivable lack of updates! I have had the world's biggest case of writer's block. But today, I had an inspiration and I was all "That's it!" and my family got all freaked out because I yelled it out loud and they were putting away groceries. But don't worry; I have an idea for the next several chapters. The next two are mostly just going to be exposition. Please remember that this chapter and probably the next one or two all take place on THE SAME DAY!! That is highly important or you will all be confused. I hope to have the next chapter up tomorrow, because I basically already know what will happen. I hope nobody seemed too OOC in this chapter. My other full-length fic (Heart & Blood) had major OOCness and I'm trying to not let that happen in this one. I tried, I really did! Please review, your kind words mean a lot! Thank you so much to those of you who have review and said nice things about my story. As an author, that's the best praise I can receive. Thanks a lot! Review please! 


	8. Morning and Day by Hermione

Chapter 8  
  
Hermione woke up with a warm feeling in her stomach. 'Shit, not again,' she thought. Hermione recalled her dream from the previous night and groaned. 'Yes, again. Why won't he just leave me alone? Why does this have to happen to me? Aren't there other girls that would be better equipped to handle this than me? Why me?' Hermione punched her headboard in frustration and immediately regretted the action as a throbbing pain shot through her knuckles and down her arm. "Why do I have to dream about Draco Malfoy?" she didn't realize she'd spoken the thought aloud until Parvati Patil said,  
  
"What did you say Hermione?"  
  
"Um, nothing," said Hermione defensively.  
  
"Are you sure? I was just waking up, I heard this horrible crack, but I was sure you said something about Draco Malfoy."  
  
By now the other girls were also beginning to stir.  
  
"Oh, don't be silly, Parvati," Hermione was trying perhaps a bit too hard to retain the normalcy in her voice. "Why would I say anything about Draco Malfoy except that he's an insufferable bastard?" Hermione tittered. "Honestly!"  
  
Parvati eyed her suspiciously. "Whatever you say."  
  
The other girls were up by now and looking around for clothes and wands and shoes, trying to get ready for breakfast and the conversation was abandoned. Hermione heaved a sigh of relief. The last thing she needed anyone to find out was that she was having dreams about Draco Malfoy. Especially not Parvati. She had become rather a matchmaker over the years and Hermione was never on the prowl for a date.  
  
Hermione took her usual spot with Ron and Harry at the table in the Great Hall for breakfast. As she reached for the pitcher of pumpkin juice, she happened to look across the table, across the room, across two other tables and meet a pair of eyes as gray as the sea on a cloudy day. For a moment, everything around them melted away and they were just them, sharing each breath, each heartbeat; cold sea meeting warm brandy, blending in the earth, flowering into a tree, nothing but themselves, each two bodies sharing a soul.  
  
Then someone shouted "Hermione!" and the spell was broken, the world was back in place, and pumpkin juice was spreading all over the Gryffindor table.  
  
"Oh, sorry guys!" said Hermione as people on either side of her jumped up to avoid the sticky liquid running into their laps. Hermione quickly muttered a cleaning spell and the juice was gone. "I guess I got lost in a daydream."  
  
"I'll say!" said Ron. You'd practically turned the pitched upside down before we'd gotten your attention! What so bloody interesting about the Slytherin table anyway?"  
  
"I wasn't staring at the Slytherin table!" said Hermione. Her cheeks flushed even as she said it.  
  
Ron knew she was lying but didn't say anything. "Oh, really? Just found some interesting thing on a solid stone wall that is completely gray and devoid of every other color?"  
  
Hermione's cheeks got even redder. "Well, what if I did find something interesting in the solid stone wall? Maybe I thought the imperfections in the rocks made what looked like a silhouette of Gilderoy Lockhart."  
  
"I'd say that's a pretty dull explanation, even for you," said Ron softly into her ear. Hermione's face couldn't get any redder, so the blush went up to her hairline and down to her collar.  
  
"What's really bothering you, Hermione?" asked Ron.  
  
"I'd prefer not to talk about it here with you. The subject is closed now and we can all move on with our day like this whole thing never happened. Harry's been very quiet, anything wrong, Harry?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Nothing Hermione," said Harry. He had been quietly looking down the length of the table while Ron and Hermione had had their little exchange, and didn't bother to look up when he answered Hermione's question. She followed his gaze down to Ginny Weasley, who was talking animatedly with some sixth year girls. Hermione smiled.  
  
Ron followed both their gazes and grimaced.  
  
"Harry," said Hermione, "Parvati told me she had this new way of getting people together. I'll let her know that you and Ginny are willing test subjects."  
  
Harry's head snapped towards Hermione. "You wouldn't dare."  
  
"Oh, yes, I would, Harry darling," said Hermione with more than a hint of mischief in her voice. No one let Parvati loose on anyone and lived to tell the tale. She would probably be talked about for years to come.  
  
"Harry," said Ron, fixing Harry with a grave look, "you're one of my best friends. But if you hurt my sister, I swear, I will get Hermione to teach me one of those castration spells she threatened me with all through sixth year."  
  
Harry succeeded in hiding his smile, but there was no mistaking the mirth in his eyes. "I promise I won't do anything to purposely hurt Ginny. But I don't think she'd even give me second glance now, not after the way I snubbed her during her first few years of school."  
  
"And I'm sure she wouldn't be willing to even talk to you after you saved her life in the Chamber of Secrets," said Hermione sarcastically. She glanced down the table again. "She's looking this way, Harry."  
  
"Bloody hell!" said Harry. "Do you think she saw me staring?"  
  
"Would you all please stop talking about my sister as some sort of - of - girl?" Ron was practically going crazy.  
  
"Sure, Ron, whatever you say. Look, Harry, she's coming over to say hi. Better wipe the pumpkin juice mustache off your lips."  
  
Hermione laughed as Harry's eyes got wide and he hurriedly wiped his mouth on his sleeve.  
  
"Hi, guys," said Ginny as she came up to where they were sitting and sat down next to Harry. "What's up? Is there a profile of Gilderoy Lockhart on my pumpkin juice goblet or something?" Harry turned a brilliant shade of red and Ron excused himself from the table while Hermione broke up into hysterics. Ginny just looked at Harry puzzled. He shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Well, um," said Harry. "I have to, um, go to the, um - er, library to uh, do some, some, uh, something. I'll see you later, Jimmy and Horny." Harry turned an even deeper shade of red as he realized what he'd said. Hermione only laughed harder. Ginny looked at him with a twinkle in her eye. "I mean," he said, "um, I'll see you later," and Harry Potter made his grand exit.  
  
Hermione was laughing so hard that tears had come to her eyes and were streaming down her face. Ginny had giggled a bit, but was now more puzzled than ever and went off in search of some sane person to have a normal conversation with.  
  
Hermione waited for the laughing fit to pass, which took a while. The urges of passersby to "breathe" and "calm down before you hurt yourself" only made her laugh all the harder. But finally she did calm down and wiped the tears from her now tomato-red face. She was still smiling so hard that her cheeks hurt in the aftermath of the laughing fit when she felt someone's eyes on her from across the hall. She looked up and once again met those incredible gray eyes, but the world didn't fall away this time. Everything around her slowed down, but she could still see him and everything else. His gaze was stony, but not unkind. His eyes revealed to her that he was feeling a tumult of emotion as well, but his upbringing wouldn't allow him to show it. Then, he broke the contact, severing the connection between them. Hermione couldn't help feeling disappointed.  
  
'What am I doing?' Hermione silently asked herself as she got up from her seat and made her way to Herbology before she was late for class.  
  
* * *  
  
It was now time for Potions. 'Perfect,' Hermione thought. 'The perfect end to one of the strangest days of my life.'  
  
Harry had not spoken to Ginny since breakfast that morning, and Ron had barely spoken to Harry. It wasn't that Ron was angry. He just couldn't understand how Harry was attracted to his sister. And he didn't want his sister to *do* anything with anyone for the rest of her life. She would become a nun, if he had his way about it.  
  
Hermione hadn't stopped thinking about what had happened to her at breakfast all day. It was so weird. Who would have thought that Draco Malfoy could do that to her? So the day had turned out to be one of the strangest since Hermione had arrived at Hogwarts. Stranger even than all the days she had spent with Harry and Ron trying to defeat Voldemort or save something or someone. 'But,' she thought, 'it's almost over. Soon, Potions will be over, and then I can just curl up with Hogwarts, A History and relax.'  
  
"Quiet down, class," said Snape in his characteristically dark and imposing manner. Hermione found that she had become rather used to it and it didn't intimidate her nearly as much as it used to. "Since this is your seventh and final year at our lovely institution, as well as your NEWT year, we will be brewing a very complex and difficult potion. I can assure you that you will need to pay meticulous attention to the details of this assignment; failing to complete any of the steps could prove a great threat to your health and well being. As such," Snape gave a sigh of annoyance "you will be working with partners on the assignment. I will choose your partners for you and have a list of pairs posted on the door of the classroom tomorrow. Don't get your hopes up; I doubt anyone will complete this potion successfully. It comes from a very high level of learning that I doubt even our resident know-it-all Miss Granger has reached.  
  
Hermione wasn't even listening to Snape. She had learned to ignore his snide remarks over the years. "How high a level of learning is that, Professor Snape?"  
  
"Even students at the University level in Europe don't brew this potion until their final years. But, this potion will give you a highly sophisticated sense of how to brew a delicate potion and successfully work under pressure, valuable skills for your NEWTs. The potion is called the Morganna's Elixir. It is generally used as a soothing potion for victims of extreme flesh wounds, bites, burns, and the like. It can become highly explosive if stored for a long amount of time and is generally not found in the store rooms of St. Mungo's for this reason. Now, I want 18 inches of parchment on this potion and have it to me by the end of class, now begin. You may use your textbook as a resource, but I doubt it will be very helpful due to the advanced nature of the potion."  
  
Hermione, having anticipated her professor's assignment, already had six inches of parchment done. Professor Snape had been quite wrong about Hermione not knowing anything about the potion. She was quite familiar with it, having encountered it in her reading numerous times. Hermione finished the assignment and found that she still had twenty minutes left in class. She lay her head down on the desk in front of her for a short nap.  
  
'She was lying in a warm, white bed that smelled like roses. She felt a warm body beside her and turned to see who it was. A pale face framed in blond hair smiled at her. Hermione hugged Draco to her, not wanting to let go of him. He was so warm and Hermione felt so safe with his body pressed against hers. She snuggled into the contours of his chiseled chest, not wanting to . . .'  
  
"Wake up!" said a voice very close to her face. She waved her hand at the voice and felt it slap against warm flesh. She heard a giggle and her eyes flew open.  
  
"Ron!" she said. "I'm sorry! Are you all right?"  
  
"I'm fine, Hermione, don't worry. You're lucky Snape didn't catch you. You'd have detention from now until graduation.  
  
Hermione nodded, but she wasn't thinking about Snape at the moment. She was remembering the dream she'd been having. "Did I say anything while I was asleep? I talk in my sleep sometimes."  
  
"No, Hermione, I didn't hear anything. Well, there was one time, when I realized you were asleep; you gave this sort of sigh. You sounded really happy. Come to think of it, you and Malfoy were both asleep today in class. I heard him sigh at about the same time. That's odd. Wonder what the insufferable bastard was dreaming. Or even more interesting, what were you dreaming, Hermione?" Ron asked mischievously.  
  
"None of your business, Ron," said Hermione. "A person's dreams are their subconscious thoughts and desires and problems trying to work themselves out during sleep. I doubt you would find my subconscious very interesting."  
  
"I don't know, Hermione, you had a very content look on your face," said Ron.  
  
"Well, I don't remember what I was dreaming, so I can't tell you."  
  
"Lying never did become you, Hermione."  
  
By this time the pair had reached the Gryffindor Common Room and Ron was going up to the boys' dormitory, while Hermione went up to the girls'. She set down her school bag and picked up Hogwarts, A History and headed for the library. She had no idea what would be waiting for her when she got there.  
  
A/N: Is it just me, or is this the worst chapter yet? It kind of rambles on and on and never gets anywhere. Sorry about the lack of Hermione/Draco shipiness in this chapter, but I was trying to explore Hermione's feelings about what had happened. Please keep in mind that this takes place on the SAME DAY as the last chapter, but not at the same time. This chapter took forever to write. I think it's the longest chapter yet. I hope you guys liked it better than I did. Did anyone get my hidden meaning in the last chapter? Review and tell me if you guess it. Did anyone like the Harry/Ginny subplot I put in? It kind of took over this chapter, but it will NOT take over the rest of the story, I promise. Review please! They mean a lot. I love getting all those review notices flooding my in-box! Thanks to those who have already reviewed! I love you guys! Hugs and cookies to all! 


	9. So Far Away

Chapter 9  
  
Hermione strode through the halls to the library. Hardly anyone know it, but there were actually comfortable armchairs way in the back. Hermione was probably the only person who spent enough time in the library to know it. She settled down into the chair and kicked off her shoes, ready for a relaxing read. That's when he showed up.  
  
Draco Malfoy was pretending to look for a book on Potions. Merlin knew he needed the help. Then he saw her. All the anxiety he felt from his conversation with Professor Snape melted away when he saw her engrossed in that book.  
  
"Hello, Grange," he drawled. His voice had lost most of the malice that she had become accustomed to, but it's hard for a Malfoy to change his hair gel and a twinge of animosity still remained.  
  
"Hello, Malofy," her voice was tentative, not sure what was going on or how to react ot it.  
  
"You enjoy reading, don't you, Granger?"  
  
"What are you scrutinizing at his time of night?" his palms were sweating and it was all he could do to keep his breathing even. Her beauty took his breath away. The way her legs were tucked gently underneath her, the way her hair flowed down her body, gently swishing when she turned her head; it was enough to drive him mad.  
  
"Hogwarts, A History," she said. Why was he making her so nervous? She didn't care about him. He was the insufferable ferret, the enemy. So why was his mere presence awakening feelings she hadn't felt since fourth year?  
  
"Listen, Granger--" he stopped and methodically amended his statement. "Hermione, I would like to apologize for my rude actions this summer," Malfoy impregnated every word of his sentence with dignity and sincerity that was genuine. He was trying to hide his chagrin over his second actual apology by talking like a high-clan Malfoy.  
  
"It's all right, Malfoy. I've forgiven you. Dumbledore must have told you something pretty awful, didn't he?"  
  
Draco snorted. "That he did. But I really came to give you something, Gr - Hermoine."  
  
"What is it?" Hermione could feel butterflies in her stomach.  
  
Her pulled out of his robes a brown leather book and handed it to her. "I thought you might enjoy it. As a token of my gratitude."  
  
Hermione paused. "Dear Circe, you can't be serious. You can't give me this." The book was very old, a record of the ancient witches and wizards. It was call Antiquitas Magicus and all copies were thought to have been burned centuries ago. The book Hermione held in her hands was worth more than all the treasure in Gringotts. "How did you come across a copy of it?" she asked.  
  
"This is not a copy," Draco said. "It is an original printing, bound in approximately 1297. My father left it in my care, as it contains a great deal about my ancient ancestors." She was impressed and he was pleased. "I know you have an affinity for history."  
  
"But I thought these were all burned; how do you have one? Especially one so old?"  
  
"Most copies were burned, but the Malfoys have a way of . . . hiding . . . what we need at the appropriate time." He gazed at her face, memorizing every contour and delicate feature, wishing nothing more than to have her face between his hands, his mouth raining kisses down on hers.  
  
"Malfoy," Hermione said hesitantly, reaching to hand the book back to him, "this book is priceless. I can't keep this."  
  
"But I want you to have it," he said, pushing it back towards her. "I have read the first few pages and know that I have no use for it. Please accept it."  
  
Hermione looked longingly at the old tome. "Are you sure?" she said.  
  
"Quite," said Malfoy. He could smell her less than a meter from him, a clean scent of soap and fresh air. He looked into her eyes, and something passed between them again, but more intense this time, like electricity that both could hear, snapping and crackling in the air.  
  
Hermione clutched the book to her chest and smiled at him. "Thank you very much, Draco," she said. "This is something I will treasure."  
  
For the first time in his life, Draco forgot himself and smiled back. He knew that everything was different now and that nothing would be the same. And it thrilled him. Then, quickly, the façade was put back into place and he exited quickly.  
  
* * *  
  
"Are you sure, Severus?" asked Dumbledore concernedly.  
  
"Postitive," said Snape. "The boy came and spoke to me about it this afternoon. Though why he would consider me for a partner in a conversation of that nature, I do not know."  
  
"He considered you because you are all he has left. You are his father now, Severus."  
  
"Well, I can't say I ever expected anyone to tell me that. But I do understand your reasoning."  
  
"Now, back to the matter at hand, is that all he said?" Dumbledore reclined in his chair and put his hands over his eyes, roughly massaging his face.  
  
"Yes; he only spoke of her," Severus sat in a chair on the other side of Dumbledore's desk. "What are we going to do?"  
  
"Do? I don't think there's much we can do, is there Severus? We must let the thing run its course. Hopefully, it will not last long. These things usually don't; I've been here long enough to know that."  
  
"You want me to continue with my current work?"  
  
"Yes, Severus. That would probably be the best thing for now. Has the safe house been secured?"  
  
Snape nodded. "It's in Wales somewhere, I think. Only Tonks and Lupin know for sure. I don't even want to know how they found it. They say it's unplottable."  
  
"That should do nicely, then. I will make arrangements to have him transported there as soon as the school term ends. He should be safe for now."  
  
"What of Miss Granger? Is she safe?" Snape wasn't one to show affection, but he did care about his students. Especially ones as powerful as Hermione.  
  
"For the time being, she is. I expect she will stay in Grimmauld Place after graduation. She is in now immediate danger. As long as he doesn't find out about young Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore put a curious emphasis on the word 'he.'  
  
"All precautions will be taken," said Snape. He knew the gravity of the situation at hand.  
  
"Does he know that Draco survived?" Dumbledore inquired.  
  
"Not yet," Snape answered truthfully. "But it is only a matter of time."  
  
"What will happen when we run out of time?"  
  
Snape spoke with precision, weighing every word. "I believe he will try to execute young Malfoy again."  
  
Dumbeldore nodded. "Do we know why?"  
  
"I believe he sees Draco as a threat. He knows of the prophecy as well."  
  
The Headmaster thought. "If he knew of Mr. Malfoy's attraction to Miss Granger . . . "  
  
Snape nodded.  
  
"Not a soul must now of this, Severus. It doesn't leave the office walls."  
  
"As always, Albus."  
  
Dumbledore stood to leave. "Now I have some business to attend to in London. If you will excuse me, Severus, I will bid you good bye. I hope our next meeting is not quite so dreary as this one has been." The trademark twinkle was back in his eye as Dumbledore led Severus to the door. "Good luck, my boy," said the Headmaster. "Do not let him be lost. He is too important to the cause. You know as well as I. He is out last hope."  
  
"I will not fail you, Albus."  
  
"I know," said Dumbledore. "You never have before. Now, I believe Poppy needs some Headache-Relieving potions and I must go, so I leave you now. Have faith Severus. Everything will be all right. And if it's not, we'll soon be dead, so who cares, eh?" Dumbledore laughed. "See you later Severus."  
  
And Severus Snape went down the steps, wondering how that old man could be so happy.  
  
A/N: Sorry it took so long! The next chapters will come quicker, I promise. Hope you liked this one, review please! Sorry if my Latin title is crap. I don't speak Latin and used an on-line translator. Review! 


	10. Roses and Lavender

Chapter 10  
  
"Goodbye, Harry, see you in a few weeks," said Hermione as Harry boarded the train in Hogsmeade.  
  
"See you later, Hermione. Have a good holiday. Are you sure you won't come with us?" asked Harry. Ron was waiting behind Hermione on the platform.  
  
"Yes. I need some time alone. I need to think."  
  
"I understand that, what with Malfoy hanging around and actually being nice like he has been," Ron commented from behind her.  
  
Hermione sighed. "Have a good Christmas, Ron. I'll see you all soon! Give everyone in London my love!" The train pulled out of the station, carrying Harry, Ron, and Ginny to Grimmauld Place and leaving Hermione at Hogwarts. Little did she know her relaxing holiday would not be as relaxing as she thought.  
  
* * *  
  
Draco had decided to stay at Hogwarts over the Christmas hols. Not that he could go home. Snape had offered him the safe house, but he decided to stay at school instead. He needed the time to relax and think and sort out his feelings for a certain bushy-haired Gryffindor. Why did she have to be so damn intoxicating? He could hardly sleep when he thought of her, he couldn't eat. He didn't know what to do.  
  
He sat in the library, waiting for something to happen, to show him what to do. As if by Fate's sardonic sense of humor, Hermione came swaying towards him. At least she looked like she was swaying. Maybe she was just walking. Maybe angels look like they're swaying when they walk (A/N: major cheesiness!).  
  
"What are you doing here, Malfoy? Didn't you want to go home and see your father over break?" she didn't have the biting cruelty in her voice he had half expected, and he didn't react as such, which surprised her.  
  
"I told you before; my father is dead to me. I have no father."  
  
"Oh," said Hermione. "Well, seeing as we're two of only twenty students staying over the hols, would you like to take a walk?"  
  
Draco looked into her magical brown eyes, the gentle curve of her cheekbone, and the smooth bud of her lips. "Sure," he said softly.  
  
Hermione didn't know what possessed her to ask Malfoy to go for a walk with her. Maybe it was the way the fading sunlight had caught his hair and made the hard lines of his face go soft for half a second. Or maybe she had just lost her mind.  
  
They walked in silence for a few moments. Hermione's hand accidentally brushed his. They both felt the electricity that time. Draco stopped when they reached a rose bush.  
  
"Do you like roses, Hermione?" he asked.  
  
"They're all right, I suppose. I never really thought about it."  
  
"I don't really like roses. They seem rather overrated. I like lavender."  
  
"Why?" Hermione asked. The sun had dipped just beneath the horizon and a chill pervaded the air with the distinctive smell of a winter sunset.  
  
Draco turned to look at her. "It's so simple, but so beautiful. Just one long slender stalk rising out of the ground, with a sweet-smelling tuft at the top," he fingered a strand of her hair that had fallen into her face. She leaned into his cool touch. "Hermione," he said.  
  
"Draco," she breathed.  
  
"May I kiss you?" he whispered into her ear.  
  
She looked straight into his eyes. "Please," she said.  
  
He gently touched his lips to her, like soft rose petals brushing against each other. She responded instantly, tilting her face up to meet his, seeking more of his lips. He deepened the kiss and she snaked her arms around his neck, never wanting to let him go.  
  
When they finally pulled away, neither of them could say anything. They just gazed at each other with the untamable gaze lover often share. They walked back to the castle, hand in hand, and heart in heart.  
  
* * *  
  
"Things have become a bit more complicated, Albus," said Snape later that day in Dumbledore's office.  
  
"I know, Severus. They haven't left the other's side all evening."  
  
"What do you propose we do?"  
  
"There's really nothing we can do," Dumbledore had stood and was now pacing the office, something he did only when extremely agitated or distressed.  
  
"We must tell them, they cannot keep on as they are now. It's getting to dangerous, Albus. He will make his move soon. He knows."  
  
"I know that, Severus!" said Dumbledore, banging his fist on the desk. "But do you have any idea how we separate keep them safe without destroying the other? You know the words. He must find her--"  
  
"I know, Albus, you don't need to lecture me on that!" Snape was equally angry. "But we can't tell them, what would they do if they knew?"  
  
"They are young adults, Severus, not children! We cannot keep up the charade any longer! I need you to bring her here first thing tomorrow."  
  
"Why just her?" he asked, then instantly realized he shouldn't have.  
  
"Trust me, my friend. It will be all right. As long as Harry is safe, we have hope."  
  
"As you wish, Headmaster; I will see Hermione knows of our appointment."  
  
"Thank you. I hope this meeting will not be like the last one I had with a student."  
  
"As do I, Albus."  
  
* * *  
  
A/N: Well, sorry about the major cheesiness. I'm just in a really cheesy mood. This chapter was going to be longer, but I'm crunched for time and I'm tired of typing, so I hope you like this one and review please! The next one should be up soon, I hope! 


	11. Prophecy

Chapter 11  
  
"You wanted to see me, Professor?" said Hermione. She had been startled when Snape had requested her presence in Dumbledore's office earlier that morning, but had complied anyway. Besides, she needed to avoid Draco. What had she been thinking? How could she have kissed him? Her third greatest enemy, Slytherin king, and she had kissed him. He must have put something in her drink. But something inside her heart spoke differently.  
  
"Yes, Miss Granger," said Dumbledore breaking into her thoughts. "It has come to my attention, and to Professor Snape's, that you and Mr. Malfoy have forged a relationship of sorts."  
  
Hermione swallowed. "Well, I suppose that is true. But neither of us intended it to go as far as it did. I hope we didn't do anything wrong."  
  
"No, no, Hermione," said Dumbledore with a grave face. "But I need to ask you a few rather personal questions. Do you mind?"  
  
'Yes,' thought Hermione. But she said, "No."  
  
"Very well," said Dumbledore, exchanging a look with Snape who was standing sentry behind Hermione. "Do you care for Draco?"  
  
Hermione's breath hitched. Did she? Was it all an illusion? Was she deluding herself? No, she wasn't. "Yes, I do. Very much," she whispered.  
  
Dumbledore sighed. "Does he know how you feel?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Does he reciprocate your feelings?"  
  
Hermione snorted. "If the way he kissed out in the garden was any indication, I'd say yes," she gasped. That wasn't meant to be spoken out loud. "I'm sorry, Professor. I didn't mean to--"  
  
Dumbledore chuckled. "Quite all right my dear. We are well aware of your encounter in the garden." He sobered. "There is something you need to know."  
  
"What's wrong?" asked Hermione.  
  
Dumbledore reached underneath his desk and pulled out a small glass globe. "I believe you know what this is?"  
  
Hermione nodded. "It's a prophecy from the Ministry of Magic. But why is it here? What does it have to do with me and Draco?"  
  
"I retrieved this prophecy from the Ministry several years ago, Miss Granger," said Snape for the first time. "Apparently it involves Draco, his father, you, and myself."  
  
"What does it say?" asked Hermione. "I have a right to know. It's about me."  
  
"This prophecy has been kept a secret from everyone but Severus and me," Dumbledore spoke. "It is imperative that nothing we hear goes beyond this room.  
  
"Of course," said Hermione.  
  
Dumbledore gestured towards to glass sphere. Hermione picked up and dropped on the desk, shattering the dusty orb.  
  
A silvery figure floated onto the desk in front of them. It had a plethora of hair and Hermione couldn't tell if it was male or female. It began speaking in a raspy voice.  
  
"The Dark Lord will be vanquished and Light will win, but not all victory is sweet. The father of a warrior will betray him, another warrior will heal his wounds, and yet another will save them both. The life of all rests with the warriors, they must destroy the evil before it is too late. Only they can destroy it. One will die, two will be joined. One from shadow and one from light will create the strongest warrior of all. They must be protected. One must destroy his own sire, one will die, one will protect all, two must be bound for the plan to succeed. One will save the life of another at the expense of his own, one will save the life of another at the expense of another. All this must happen for the Light to shine through.  
  
The shadowy ghost faded into the air and left Hermione gawking in its wake.  
  
A/N: There's the prophecy! It's kind of nebulous, but I hope you like it! Review please! More D/H action in the next chapter! Sorry for anyone who read the pseudo-chapter 11! I forgot to put some things in the prophecy that needed to be there! But I hope this is okay! 


	12. A Little More Conversation

Chapter 12  
  
Hermione sat with her mouth open for a moment.  
  
"Close your mouth, Miss Granger, you look like a codfish," said Snape coolly from behind her chair.  
  
Hermione closed her mouth. "I'm sorry Professors. I don't understand. This prophecy is about me?"  
  
"Yes," said Dumbledore. "Your name was on it in the Ministry of Magic. And recent circumstances have proved to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that you and Draco are two of the warriors spoken about."  
  
"Who's the third one?" she asked.  
  
"I am," said Snape behind her.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I am almost certain," said Dumbledore, "that Severus is the third warrior in the prophecy. The one who will 'save all' I believe."  
  
"What – I mean, how will – what does this mean?" Hermione's confusion was evident not only in her words, but in her eyes.  
  
"I don't know, Hermione," said Dumbledore. "I don't know that anyone does."  
  
"Why show this to me? Why not Draco?"  
  
"Because," said Snape, "you must be protected. You must both be protected. We hope that by showing you, you will have the common sense to keep both yourself and Draco out of trouble. You must be kept safe."  
  
"So you don't think Draco would take care of himself? I assure you, he would never let someone destroy him," said Hermione.  
  
"Has Mr. Malfoy told you what happened to him the night before you found him at your home?" asked Dumbledore.  
  
"No," said Hermione. "I assumed he would tell me when he was ready."  
  
"I think the time has come for him to tell you, Hermione. For all our sakes," said Dumbledore. "I think a lot will be explained once you know what happened that night."  
  
Hermione quietly nodded and got up to go find Draco, the conversation over. Suddenly she stopped and went pale.  
  
"Professor Dumbledore," she whispered, just loud enough for him to hear. "Which one of us is going to die? The prophecy said that one of us would. Which one is it?"  
  
Dumbledore looked at her gravely over his glasses. "I do not know, Miss Granger," he said.  
  
Hermione turned and left the room, hoping to find Draco in a safe place.  
  
A/N: Well, there it is. It's not as long as I would have liked, but I hope to have more in the next chapter! I have to go back to school soon (I've been out sick lately, Martian Death flu has taken over my house) so I'm not sure I'll be prompt with my next update, but I'll try! By the way, reviews encourage me to write more! The more I get, the faster I update! Review please! 


	13. The Dragon and the BoyWhoLived

Chapter 13 (Oh, I hope it's not unlucky!)  
  
Hermione found Draco in the library, lazily drinking in the sunlight from an armchair. Her heart slowed its hammering. Panic had engulfed her when she had heard Dumbledore's words that one of them would die. She prayed to the God her parents so ardently believed in that it would not be him.  
  
"Draco!" called Hermione softly. He sensed her distress, and then her relief. He rushed to her and roughly embraced her, cursing himself for the display. Tenderness was still foreign to him.  
  
"What is it? You look worried," he said.  
  
"It's just . . . something Professor Dumbledore said. It really worried me."  
  
"Well you needn't worry. We're safe at Hogwarts," Draco's voice was softer than it usually was, but still matter-of-fact.  
  
"I know," Hermione sighed and rested her head against his shoulder. Suddenly, she looked up. "Draco, there's something we need to talk about."  
  
* * *  
  
Harry Potter was sitting in the kitchen of Number 12, Grimmauld Place, nursing a mug of hot chocolate. Contrary to some people's assumptions, the heart of Grimmauld Place was the kitchen, not the parlor or sitting room. The kitchen was where people met to talk and eat and catch up with old friends; it was truly the center of the old house that Lupin now looked after.  
  
His thoughts consumed him and he stared into the warm brown liquid in his cup as though into Pensieve, looking for some sort of answer. Harry snorted. Why should he even care? 'It doesn't matter if I should or shouldn't,' he thought. 'I do, just the same.'  
  
Remus Lupin walked in and saw his best friend's son sitting at a table rather forlornly.  
  
"Hey, Harry," he said. "Anything wrong?"  
  
"Nothing a time-turner won't fix," Harry said, thinking of all those times he should have been nice and wasn't.  
  
"Oh, one of those problems," said Lupin as he made his own cup of cocoa. "Where is everybody, anyway?" It was quite an unusual thing to find the kitchen empty when the kids were home from school.  
  
"They went into the city. Charlie's coming for Christmas on the late afternoon train. I didn't feel much like going with them," Harry said and took a sip of his now cold cocoa.  
  
Remus looked at Harry with a sparkle in his eye. "Cheer up, Harry. She'll come around."  
  
Harry nearly spit out his mouthful of cocoa. "Who?" he asked, after swallowing.  
  
"Whoever she is. Trust me; I've been a jilted lover enough times to know the signs. Who is she?" Lupin smiled.  
  
"Well, for your information, I have not been jilted. And we aren't lovers. Not that we ever will be," the last sentence was said under his breath, but Lupin heard anyway. Damn lycanthropy.  
  
"Ah," said Remus, "so it's unrequited love, then. I know that all too well. Who is she, Harry?"  
  
Harry scowled. "Not telling," he muttered.  
  
"Fine then, I'll guess." He thought for a moment. "Hermione?"  
  
Harry paled, but remained calm. "No, though you wouldn't be the first person to think so. But Hermione is just like my sister. It's not her."  
  
Lupin thought some more. "Hannah Abbott?"  
  
Harry shook his head.  
  
Remus went through several names he remembered from his teaching career including Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Luna Lovegood, Susan Bones, Cho Chang, and numerous others. He was rather glad when Harry denied them all. Some of them were spoken for and others were just plain weird. But he still didn't know who it was Harry loved, but didn't love him back.  
  
"Hmm . . ." Lupin thought out loud. That was all he could remember from school. "Tonks?" he asked hesitantly.  
  
Harry smirked. "Like I could compete with you for her."  
  
Lupin smiled. He was glad Harry was not interested in his secret fiancé. That would make things rather awkward. Remus was tired of this game. But he took one last wild guess. "McGonagall?"  
  
Harry really did spit his cocoa all over the table this time. "Bloody hell, Remus," he said with a shocked expression.  
  
"Just kidding," said Lupin. "Well, Harry, I give up. That's all the girls in your year and above and I still don't have a clue. Unless, wait a minute," Lupin said mischievously. "She's younger than you, isn't she?"  
  
Harry's face turned three shades of red.  
  
"I know who it is," said Lupin. "You're in love with Ginny Weasley!"  
  
"If you tell anyone, I swear--"  
  
"No need to worry, Harry, I'll keep your secret if you can keep mine," said Remus.  
  
"What secret do you have?"  
  
Lupin took a deep breath. "I'd like to ask you to be a witness at my wedding to Tonks."  
  
Harry looked at his good friend and mentor in admiration. "Congratulations, Remus," he said. "Of course I'll stand for you."  
  
"Thank you," said Remus. "Now, getting back to you and Ginny--"  
  
Harry let out a frustrated sigh. "There is no me and Ginny. She hasn't given me a second glance since her third year. After all the times I could have--"  
  
"That doesn't matter, Harry. Well, to a certain extent it does, but you have to tell her how you feel. How is she going to know you like her if you don't tell her?"  
  
"That's exactly the point. I don't want her to know that I like her, even maybe love her. Too many people I love have been taken away from me. What if You-Know-Who gets a hold of her?"  
  
"Harry, you can't live your life in fear of You-Know-Who. There's a time to be afraid of him and what he will do. But no one can protect Ginny forever. Not even you. Tell her, Harry. You may be pleasantly surprised."  
  
Just then the kitchen door swung open and a willowy red-head stepped in. "Was it my imagination, or were you two just talking about me?" asked Ginny Weasley.  
  
* * *  
  
"What do we need to talk about?" Draco asked.  
  
"Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape told me to ask you about that night. The night before you came to my house," Hermione said.  
  
Draco roughly pulled away from her embrace, coldness now in his eyes. "It is not your concern."  
  
"Yes, it is, Draco," said Hermoine, feeling her arms and her heart ache for him. "There's a prophecy," Hermione told him. She knew she probably shouldn't but she wasn't going to start their relationship by lying to him. "It's about you and me and . . . someone else. You have to tell me, Draco. You have to tell me if you want to protect me. If you want me and the someone else to be able to protect you."  
  
"Who's the someone else?" he asked.  
  
Hermione shook her head, indicating that she wouldn't tell him.  
  
He looked away. "Will you tell anyone else?"  
  
"Of course not," she said. "It's your story, and you will tell whomever you wish when you wish it."  
  
"Not even Potter or Weasley?"  
  
"Especially not them."  
  
He turned back towards her. "The night before I arrived at your house, my father tried to kill me."  
  
Hermione was shocked. "Why?"  
  
"I do not know."  
  
"Can you tell me more of what happened?" she gently prodded him.  
  
He looked into soft brown eyes, feeling like at that moment, he would do whatever she wanted, just so she would look away, just so she wouldn't take the comfort of those eyes away from him.  
  
He took a deep breath, reigned in his emotions, and began his tale.  
  
A/N: I know, what a horrible thing to do! Sorry, the next chapter should be up soon, I hope. Once I figure out what his story is! Ha ha! Hope you liked this chapter! Review please! I may respond to reviews on the review page, so keep an eye out. Did you like the longer chapter? 


	14. The Memories of Draco Malfoy

Chapter 14  
  
*Flashback*  
  
Draco knocked on the doorframe to his father's study, waiting to see what the man had in store for him.  
  
"Father?" said Draco. "You wanted to see me?"  
  
Lucius Malfoy looked up from his desk and glanced at his son. "Yes, Draco, thank you for being prompt. I trust you are having a tolerable vacation?"  
  
"As tolerable as can be expected, I suppose," said Draco, still standing in the doorway. His father had not invited him to sit down.  
  
"Good," said Lucius, hardly noticing his son's apprehension. "Well, to get right to the point, Draco, I have asked you here to discuss your decision to join the Dark Lord."  
  
Draco restrained a gasp. He hadn't mentioned anything about joining the Dark Lord for some time now and was excited to hear that something was finally happening.  
  
"Yes?" Draco urged his father to continue.  
  
"It seems that we could hold your initiation tonight, if you are willing."  
  
"I am always willing, father. Anything for the Dark Lord."  
  
"Good. I will come to collect you at 8:00 this evening. Until then, Draco," said Lucius looking back to the parchment on his desk.  
  
"Until then, father," said Draco, barely containing the joy inside of him.  
  
When 8:00 came, Lucius came to collect Draco as promised.  
  
"The time has come, Draco," said Lucius.  
  
"Yes, father," said Draco.  
  
"If you're going to go through with this, Draco," said Lucius, "you must understand something."  
  
Draco looked at his father expectantly.  
  
"The Dark Lord does not appreciate traitors. Or deserters, or those who refuse to do his bidding. This is for life, Draco. You are giving your life to the most powerful man on earth. Do you understand what that entails?"  
  
"Yes, father," said Draco.  
  
"He does not tolerate failure; only compliance. Failure is betrayal and betrayal is tantamount to death."  
  
"I understand, father. I still want to be a Death Eater. It's the highest honor I can receive."  
  
"Very well, Draco," said Lucius. "Follow me."  
  
Draco followed his father down to Lucius' private study. There, Lucius threw a handful of Floo powder into the fire place and called out a location unfamiliar to Draco. Then, he urged Draco to step through the green flames, into the presence of the Dark Lord.  
  
Draco did as he was told and slipped as gracefully as possible into the fireplace, preparing to meet the most feared people in the wizarding world. His father quickly followed him.  
  
Draco found himself in the middle of a circle of dark figures, each one wearing an identical midnight-black cloak with a hood that covered their faces. Nothing distinguished one from another. Except one. One had a pair of sinister red eyes peeking from behind his hood.  
  
"My Lord," said Lucius as he knelt at the feet of the one with red eyes.  
  
"Rise, Lucius," said a raspy voice, coming from the tall figure. "We come tonight to celebrate the arrival of your son. I hope he is ready."  
  
"He is ready, my Lord," said Lucius.  
  
Draco squared his shoulders.  
  
"We shall see, Lucius, we shall see. Come here, my boy," said the man.  
  
Draco obeyed.  
  
The man with the red eye threw back his hood and reveled himself for what he truly was: a monster. He had a hideous, snake-like face, a pallid complexion and horrible red eyes.  
  
"So," said the Dark Lord, "you want to join the ranks of my Death Eaters?"  
  
"More than anything, my Lord," said Draco.  
  
"Well, boy," said Voldemort, circling Draco menacingly, "in order to do that, you must first prove yourself. Are you prepared to face the challenge?"  
  
"Anything, my Lord," said Draco, looking at the ground.  
  
"Good," said the Dark Lord appraisingly. "Bellatrix!"  
  
One of the figures stepped out of the circle and pulled something out of its robes. A large bundle of blankets now rested on the ground in front of Draco.  
  
"Kill it," said Voldemort.  
  
"I don't have my wand sir," said Draco.  
  
"You don't need a wand for killing, boy. All you need are two hands, especially for this job. Now get to it."  
  
Draco nodded and kneeled over the bundle of blanket, a cloud of doubt entering his mind. He pulled away the blankets to reveal the sleeping face of a young child, no more than 18 months old. He had to hold in a gasp. The child had curly blond hair and soft skin, with a delicate pink bow of a mouth. She had a small fist clenched by her face as she slept.  
  
He couldn't move. He was supposed to kill a small child? That had never been part of the deal. His father had never told him about that.  
  
"What are you waiting for, Draco?" asked Lucius.  
  
Draco took a deep breath. He slowly spread the blankets away from the child's face, trying not to wake it. This would be hard enough without having her eyes upon him. He slowly slipped his hands around her neck, the porcelain skin warm against his fingers. Draco closed his eyes. He couldn't watch this. He began to tighten his grip, he could feel all the young muscles and tendons and her trachea under his hands. Suddenly, he stopped. A small sound came from her.  
  
"Mama?" said the child. Draco tightened his grip even more. He opened his eyes and saw tears glistening in hers. Her small pudgy hands began clawing at his, trying to make him get away. She began crying in earnest now, her small mouth opening in silent screams, no air coming out of her throat.  
  
Draco couldn't take it, his heart was wrenching within him, causing tears to form in his own eyes. He let go.  
  
"Draco, what are you doing?" Lucius demanded when the child's cries pierced the cold air.  
  
"I'm sorry, father," said Draco, looking Lucius in the eye. "I can't."  
  
Lucius gave his son a surprised look. "Oh yes you can," he said.  
  
Draco looked at the child lying in the pile of blanket, the bruises beginning to show on her throat, her wails still echoing through the night. "No, father," said Draco, "I can't."  
  
"I understand, Draco," said the Dark Lord, interjecting in the interlude between father and son. "Being a Death Eater is not for everyone. Bellatrix, that child is giving me a headache."  
  
One of the figures nodded its head and took out its wand. A flash of green light and the cries ceased.  
  
"However, Mr. Malfoy," said Voldemort, "I cannot deny my followers the opportunity of a spontaneous revel. And you have failed me."  
  
Draco swallowed. He knew what this meant, but he still kept silent.  
  
"So, I leave your fate to your father and his companions. I shall retire and allow them to have their fun," said Voldemort. He walked away and the figures around the circle began to close in around Draco. He heard a small thump and saw a bright light before his eyes, the world was spinning and then everything went black.  
  
*End Flashback*  
  
Hermione had tears in her eyes after Draco had recounted his tale.  
  
"I'm sorry, Draco," she said.  
  
He nodded. No emotion showed in his eyes, except anger. Furious intense anger stormed in his silver-gray irises. "I'm sorry, too," he said.  
  
One question still lingered in Hermione's mind. "Why did that cause you to hate your father so much?"  
  
Draco took a deep breath. "He was the one who hit me over the head. When I came to, he was standing over. I remember him saying 'If you won't take the Mark willingly, you will take it forcibly.' He carved the Mark into my skin that night. Then he joined the other in the stabbing and the hitting and the kicking and the . . . . And all I had ever tried to do was make him proud of me," Draco snorted. "Apparently, I had to kill a baby to do it. I will never forget the look of approval in his eyes when I told him I wanted to take the Mark. And I will never forget the hatred in his eyes when I refused to strangle that child."  
  
Hermione reached out and took Draco's hand. "It's all right, Draco. There are other people who care about you."  
  
"Who?" he asked sarcastically, as if daring her to name one.  
  
"Me," she said just before she leaned in and kissed him.  
  
A/N: K, what do you think? I hope you liked it! Review please! Hope to have the next chapter up soon! Post any questions with your reviews please! 


	15. Draco and Severus talkagain

Chapter 15  
  
"I think I'll go say hello to Charlie," said Remus, quickly exiting the kitchen, but not without giving Harry a wink.  
  
"Him and half the rest of the world," Ginny muttered. "So what were you talking about Harry? Remus said to tell me something."  
  
"Er, nothing, Gin," said Harry.  
  
"Oh, come on," said Ginny, making herself a cup of cocoa. It was apparently the drink of choice. "You can tell me. How bad can it be?"  
  
"Oh, it's pretty bad," said Harry, mesmerized by the way her back muscles moved beneath her turtleneck shirt.  
  
"Come one," coaxed Ginny, taking her cocoa to the table and sitting down. "You can tell me. We have the kitchen to ourselves for now, everyone is trying to unload all of Charlie's stuff and get him settled. I won't laugh at you, if that's what you're afraid of."  
  
"I don't think you'll laugh," said Harry unconsciously counting the freckles on her face.  
  
"Well then tell me," said Ginny, putting a hand on his back.  
  
Harry's breath stopped. "You don't want to know," he said.  
  
"Yes, I do!" said Ginny. "Now tell me, before I put a Bat-Bogey Hex on you."  
  
Harry didn't waste anymore time, but used his Gryffindor bravery and quickly said, "I love you, Ginny."  
  
* * *  
  
Draco and Hermione sat together in the library for a long time. He was absorbing her strength and she was happily giving it. Eventually, Hermione decided it was time to retire. The rest of her questions would wait until morning.  
  
"I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow?" she said, getting up to leave.  
  
"Yes," Draco kissed Hermione softly. "Until tomorrow."  
  
Hermione smiled at him and left.  
  
Draco stalked to his Head of House's quarters and pounded on the entrance.  
  
"What is it?" Snape demanded as he opened the door.  
  
"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" asked Draco menacingly.  
  
"Oh, Draco," said Snape. "Yes, well, come in. I suppose the Granger girl has gone and run off her mouth, telling you twice what we told her to tell you. Now I shall have to do damage control."  
  
"Don't talk about her like that!" Draco practically screamed. He had just had one of the most emotionally draining nights of his life; he did not want to be spoken to like an indolent child. "I demand an explanation!"  
  
"You demand?" said Snape with a sneer. "You are hardly in a position to make demands, Mr. Malfoy. What do you demand I explain?"  
  
"Hermione spoke of a prophecy. What does this prophecy say?" Draco struggled to control his emotions, but succeeded. He was proud of himself.  
  
"Just something about three warriors and one who has to kill his 'sire' and two who have to be bound, and one who has to die to save the other two. It's all quite confusing, really, I'm sure you would rather go to bed as would I. So if you will excuse me, I'm sure you can find your own way out," Snape said in one breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. He didn't want to deal with this tonight.  
  
"One of us is going to die? Who is the third warrior? Hermione mentioned that two were her and me."  
  
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy, one of us is going to die, and I am the third warrior. Now sit down, and I will explain everything to you as you seem to refuse to go away."  
  
Draco plopped in a large armchair and waited for his Professor to say something.  
  
Snape started the story and didn't stop until all was told. Draco stood up and began pacing. The Professor knew that many Slytherins did this; it relieved emotional tension that students refused to express in other ways.  
  
"You say one of us is going to die. Do you know which one?" asked Draco.  
  
"That seems to be the question of the day, Draco. No, I don't know, but for all our sakes, I hope it's me."  
  
Draco's head snapped toward Snape in shock. "What do you mean, Professor?"  
  
Snape sighed. "I shouldn't have said that. I know I shouldn't have said that. Draco, you'll understand something once you get older. And that is that you get tired of living. At least I have. And when you see someone so full of life with so much potential stretching out in front of them, and then that life stolen away from someone who wants it so badly, you can't help but think that it should be you. They should have the life you don't want. You realize how very unjust the world is. So now, I wish to bring some justice to this plane of existence, and go myself into the next one."  
  
The young Malfoy nodded. He didn't know what to say. "I do not wish death on anyone but the suffering, sir," said Malfoy, "and perhaps you are suffering. But I want you to know that I will die for Hermione, if I have to. You may not be bringing justice quite yet."  
  
Snape nodded at Draco. "Fair enough. How do you wish to proceed from this point?"  
  
"Hermione must be kept safe. You and I can do some scouting and research, figure out what is going to happen in that blasted prophecy. Why do they always have to be so unclear? But we have to keep her safe. She can stay here all summer, I'm sure Dumbledore will agree, and then in the fall she can be taken on as an apprentice by one of the staff."  
  
"Mr. Malfoy, we must also figure out a means of your protection."  
  
"My protection? Why?"  
  
"All three warriors must survive, at least for a time, for the prophecy to come true. You shall be going to a safe house once the school year is out."  
  
"What about Hermione?"  
  
"She has safe quarters. You need not worry about Miss Granger's safety. She is well taken care of."  
  
"What does that part mean, about two will be bound? I don't understand."  
  
"There is much you have yet to understand, Mr. Malfoy," said Snape. "And I doubt you will understand it in a state of extreme fatigue. Go to bed. We can all three discuss this in the morning."  
  
"Yes, sir," said Draco. He yawned and looked at the clock. It was almost midnight.  
  
"Good luck, Draco," said Snape.  
  
"Thank you sir," said Draco. "Sleep well."  
  
Snape nodded and the blond Slytherin walked out of his quarters, leaving the Potions Master to contemplate what exactly he was going to tell them tomorrow.  
  
A/N: Sorry it took so long! I've had a major does of reality and also of other fics (I'm trying to write a story and get it betaed before I post it later on, so I've been caught up in that). I've also had a massive case of writer's block. I hope this was okay! I have big plans for these guys in the future! Review please! 


	16. Three Warriors

Chapter 16  
  
Draco woke late the next morning, memories of the previous evening's encounters spreading slowly over his sleep-clogged mind. He dressed quickly, but still taking time to make his appearance impeccable. A Malfoy never looked disheveled. Then, he went in search of Hermione.  
  
He found her in the library; where else did he expect to find her? She was sitting at a table this time, looking through a large book.  
  
"Hello, Hermione," said Draco sitting beside her. Her cheeks colored.  
  
"Hello, Draco," she said.  
  
"What are you reading?"  
  
"I don't know," said Hermione. "It's hard to think this early in the morning."  
  
Draco smirked. "Is it the morning or is it hard to think with me sitting next to you."  
  
Hermione blushed deeper, but smiled. "Both."  
  
Draco kissed her cheek. "Better?"  
  
"No," said Hermione as she turned to him.  
  
He leaned in closer to her, touching her lips with his ever so lightly. "Better now?"  
  
"You've just comfozzled me more," said Hermione. Her hand sat on his forearm.  
  
"Well, we'll have to fix that," said Draco. Finally leaning closer to her and pressing her lips hungrily with his. He felt her tongue tentatively touch his lips and he opened them for her. Their kiss became more passionate and less searching, hands caressing bodies, tongues caressing mouths. They quickly broke apart when they heard a voice behind them.  
  
"If you are quite finished, the Headmaster would like a meeting with all three of us," said Professor Snape.  
  
Draco quirked a corner of his mouth at the professor. "Actually, we're not quite done here, we'll meet you there."  
  
Hermione's eyes widened and Snape snorted. "We're right behind you, Professor Snape," said Hermione as she got up and followed the Professor out of the library and up to Dumbledore's office with Draco on her heels.  
  
"Ah, I see you're all here. Very good," said Dumbledore when they were all assembled in his office. "I trust that you can all guess why you're here. Mr. Malfoy, has the prophecy regarding yourself been explained to you?"  
  
"Yes, sir," said Draco. Despite his dislike of the old man, a Malfoy always showed proper respect of his or her elders. 'Something father never did,' Draco thought. He filed the thought in the back of his mind.  
  
"Even better. It will make our business today much easier," Dumbledore took a deep breath. "I would like to recommend that you all commence training together immediately. Parts of the prophecy have already come true. Draco's father did betray him and Hermione did heal his wounds. The life of all of us rest with you three, now."  
  
"Excuse me, Professor, but what do you mean 'training together?'" asked Hermione.  
  
"You need to learn how to work together; you must learn how to do battle. I know that you and Mr. Malfoy have some knowledge of how to conduct yourselves in a battle situation because of your diverse past experiences, but you need to learn how to fight *together*. That is of the utmost importance. You need to learn to get along. For that reason," Dumbledore seemed to steel himself for the reaction to what he was about to say, "I am giving you separate quarters. You will all reside in the same common room with separate bed chambers, away from the distractions of your houses."  
  
"Albus, you can't be serious!" exclaimed Snape. "I have better things to do with my time than baby-sit two love-sick children!"  
  
"We are not children, Professor," said Hermione, stiffening. "And I assure you we do not need a baby-sitter."  
  
"I am not entirely comfortable with the idea of sharing my quarters with Professor Snape and Hermione. Won't that cause suspicion and confusion among the other students?"  
  
"I agree that it will appear strange, but it is necessary. You will tell people that you and Hermione are under an intense Potions curriculum to prepare for a future career in that area. I know that you are not happy about it, but it is going to happen."  
  
Draco was silent and stoic. Hermione seemed to have resigned herself to the assignment. Snape was, however, still livid.  
  
"Albus, please! You can't mean this," he said.  
  
"I mean this with all my being, Severus. Your battle training will commence in the Room of Requirement shortly after lunch. You will have until that time to settle into your new quarters." Dumbledore gave them the location and password to their rooms, then shooed them out of his office and down to their own common room.  
  
"Merlin help us all," he muttered when they'd gone.  
  
* * *  
  
Ginny sat staring at Harry, her mouth open. Harry felt his face turn red, but his eyes didn't leave hers. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), the entire Weasley clan, as well as Lupin, Tonks, and Mad-Eye Moody traipsed into the kitchen.  
  
"Well, everyone, who's up for hot cocoa?" asked Mrs. Weasley.  
  
"Really, Molly," said Lupin. "I've already had three cups today. Don't you have any Fire Whiskey on hand?  
  
Tonks gave Lupin a look. She whispered into his ear. He blushed and whispered back. She nodded.  
  
"Molly," said Lupin, "hold the cocoa for a minute, will you? I have an announcement."  
  
"We have an announcement," said Tonks, correcting her fiancé.  
  
"Yes, we have an announcement," Remus looked into her eyes, then jumped up on a bench, so as to rise above the crowd. The kitchen was rather large, but all the Weasleys were stretching its capacity. "Excuse me everyone!" called Lupin over the din. The crowd quieted.  
  
"Er, well, I don't really know how to say this," said Remus.  
  
"Remus, just say it," said Tonks. "No need to beat around the bush."  
  
"Well," said Remus, "we hadn't meant to tell anyone this, but we thought since most of us are here, and more of us are coming, we may as well announce it now. Tonks and I are engaged."  
  
Silence sat like a blanket over the room for a minute. Then, it seemed like all Hades ripped through the kitchen. The Weasley twins began cheering, people began clapping, and calling congratulations. In short, it was pandemonium. Mrs. Weasley was crying and saying something like "We'll have to redecorate one of the rooms in the house as a nursery." Tonks and Lupin both paled and shared a glance at each other when they heard her.  
  
Harry couldn't take it. He'd just done one of the most emotionally draining things of his life, harder than even fighting Voldemort, and now there was even more emotional energy in the room. He had to get away and clear his head. Soon, he was in his room, lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling.  
  
'How could I have been so stupid?' he thought. "She doesn't love me. How could she?"  
  
"How will you know if you don't let her tell you?" asked a voice from the door. Harry didn't even realize he'd spoken the last thought aloud until the reply came. He looked to the door and saw a voluptuous red-head silhouetted there.  
  
"Ginny! I—I didn't hear you come up," he stuttered.  
  
"You weren't supposed to," she said. "But honestly, how will you now whether or not I love you if you won't let me tell you?" She walked over to him, her hips swaying seductively with every step, and sat on the bed.  
  
"I—I just assumed, because--"  
  
"You know what happens when you assume things?" she asked.  
  
Harry looked puzzled. "No. What do you mean?"  
  
"It makes an ass out of you and me," said Ginny smiling. Harry stared at her a moment and then laughed.  
  
"Who taught you that?" he asked her.  
  
"What makes you think I didn't think of it myself?" she looked offended.  
  
"Um, er, of course you could have thought of it yourself. I just thought, I mean, oh bugger. I've blown it again, haven't I?" Harry looked down at his feet. At her feet.  
  
"No, Harry, you haven't blown it. You just made a mistake. Mistakes can be atoned for. Well, most mistakes, anyway," Ginny tilted his chin up to look at her.  
  
"Oh," said Harry. "How do I atone for this one?"  
  
Ginny smiled. "Kiss me," she said.  
  
So he did.  
  
* * *  
  
Three figures faced off in the new common room. It was decorated in rich shades of brown, so no one was offended, but the color was still nice enough for all parties concerned.  
  
"Well," said Hermione. "Here we are."  
  
"Yes," said Snape. "Here we are. I will lay down some ground rules that I expect you two to obey. First, no snogging in the common room. Second, no snogging in the bedroom. If you want to snog, go somewhere else and do it. Go the bloody library, I don't care, just don't do it here. Third, no lovey-dovey rubbish in these rooms. Fourth, stay out of my private quarters. Fifth, leave me alone as much as possible. Sixth, be on time, all the time. Seventh, stay out of my way. Eighth, I do not have friends, nor do I wish to have any, so do not expect companionship from me."  
  
"Well, Professor," said Draco, "now that you've laid down your rules, I will lay down ours. First, Hermione and I will snog wherever the bloody hell we want to, whether it's here, my bedroom, her bedroom, or the middle of the bloody lake. Second, we do not need your companionship and will not seek it out. Third, we will leave you alone, if you leave us alone. Fourth --"  
  
"Bloody hell, both of you be quiet!" shouted Hermione. "If this is going to work, we need to have a working relationship, at least. We all need to respect each other. Professor Snape, I can assure you that Draco and I will respect your privacy and expect you to respect ours. We will not make you uncomfortable here; this is supposed to be a safe place for all of us. Therefore, we will expect you to not do anything to make us uncomfortable."  
  
Both men stood facing Hermione in shock.  
  
"Is it like this in the Slytherin common room?" she asked.  
  
"Only when more than one person is in there," said Draco.  
  
Hermione sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought. "Now, since we are all going to be living here, and since this is going to be a safe place, I think we should drop formalities in here. Just in here, Professor, don't give me that look."  
  
Draco nodded. "That makes sense. How are we supposed to form bonds if we call each other Mr. and Miss?"  
  
Snape snorted. "I am not comfortable giving up my title."  
  
"It's for the good of the wizarding population," said Hermione.  
  
"To hell with the wizarding population," said Snape.  
  
"Dumbledore would want it," said Draco.  
  
Snape scowled. "All right, you may address me as Severus only when we pass through those doors. You, Draco, may also address me as Lord Snape, but that could just aggravate the problem of formalities."  
  
"Why am I not allowed to address you as Lord Snape?" asked Hermione.  
  
"High Clan politics," said Draco. "I'll explain later."  
  
"You most certainly will not, Draco," said Snape.  
  
"Yes, I will, Severus," said Draco, mockingly. "My father is dead to me, dictating that there are now two Lords of Malfoy. I can explain what I will to Hermione."  
  
Severus sneered. "You are making a grave mistake. It will only aggravate your father."  
  
"My father has no way of knowing."  
  
"Your father has every way of knowing. Don't be stupid Draco."  
  
"Don't you dare tell me what's stupid," said Draco quietly. It was the most menacing thing Hermione had ever heard.  
  
"Well, look at that, it's lunch time," said Hermione brightly. "Best go get our meal, then."  
  
The two clan lords were still staring at each other when Hermione said this. She led them out of the room and into the Great Hall. Lunch was a somber meal and Hermione was puzzled. She resigned herself to being puzzled for the rest of her life; she wasn't about to ask Draco what was going on. Not when Professor Snape, no, Severus, was so touchy about everything.  
  
"We should probably get to training," said Draco. "We wouldn't want to keep Snape waiting."  
  
"No, I suppose not," said Hermione.  
  
Snape was waiting for them when they got to the Room of Requirement. "You're late," he said.  
  
"Sorry, Professor," said Hermione, not giving Draco an opportunity to say anything. She still didn't know if they were getting along.  
  
"Shall we begin?" Draco suggested.  
  
"Excellent idea, Mr. Malfoy," said Snape. "Step forward, please. Your first instructions will be in defensive curses. Now, when you see my curse coming, try to block it with your own curse. Ready?"  
  
Draco nodded and Snape threw the curse. Draco tried to block it, but failed miserably.  
  
"No, not like that," said Hermione when Draco was back on his feet. "Like this," said Hermione. "Throw the curse, Professor," she told him.  
  
Snape shrugged and threw the curse again.  
  
"Protego!" said Hermione. The curse bounced back against Snape, knocking him to the ground. "Like that. You try."  
  
Draco scowled, but said nothing. A Malfoy did not voice his disapproval with his partner.  
  
Snape got to his feet and threw the curse again. Draco blocked it this time, but barely.  
  
"See? You'll get the hang of it, you're a fast learner," said Hermione.  
  
Draco nodded. Snape just glared at them.  
  
The next several hours were spent practicing hexes and protection charms and curses. By the time Draco had the basics down (Hermione already knew most of what Snape was trying to teach), it was time for dinner.  
  
"I'm skipping," said Draco. "I need a rest."  
  
"Me, too," said Hermione.  
  
"If you are both going back to the common room, I will not join you," said Snape.  
  
"Suit yourself," said Draco, stopping Hermione from asking him to come back with them.  
  
When they were out of earshot, she turned to him. "Why did you do that? We need to get to know each other."  
  
"Because, Hermione," said Draco, "I wanted to do this." He pressed her up against the nearest wall, pinning her there with his body. Eagerly, he captured her lips with his and kissed her hungrily. After a minute or so, they each broke away, needing the air desperately.  
  
"Okay, I understand now," said Hermione, still trying to catch her breath.  
  
They went back to the common room and sat together on the couch, talking. Sometimes they just sat together in silence. But they were always silent together. Draco thought that it was much better than the lonely silence of Malfoy Manor.  
  
"Draco," said Hermione. "Try to get along with him, please."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Severus. He needs us and we need him. And I don't like it when you two fight."  
  
"Well, if you don't like it, then I won't do it."  
  
"Thank you," said Hermione; she kissed him.  
  
Just then, Snape himself walked into the room. He snorted. "Imagine the reaction Potter and Weasley will have when they realize you are a couple. That alone will be worth staying here to see."  
  
"Oh dear," said Hermione. "He's right. I'm going to go write them a letter, good night Draco, Severus," she said and went through the door that led to her chamber.  
  
"Well," said Draco, "it seems that she has left us here to work out our differences."  
  
"It seems she has," said Severus.  
  
Draco stood up. "I apologize, Lord Snape, for my rude behavior earlier this day. I should have been willing to listen to advice from a more experienced Clan Lord." Draco bowed.  
  
Severus bowed back. "You apology is accepted, Lord Malfoy. I, too, apologize for trying to tell you how to conduct your business."  
  
"It was not my business to conduct."  
  
Severus bowed again. "I, Lord Severus Snape extend the hand of friendship and alliance from the Snape clan to Lord Draconis Malfoy, acting Head of Malfoy clan."  
  
Draco bowed low. "The clan of Malfoy humbly accepts your friendship an alliance. May your house and line live long and peacefully."  
  
"May yours be fruitful as well."  
  
Both men looked each other in the eye. Not as teacher and pupil anymore, but as High Clan Lords and allies.  
  
A/N: Well, here's chapter 16! Hope you liked it. Now that I know what's going to happen eventually, I think I can safely say that a major event is coming up in the next few chapters. 20 House points if you can guess what it is! Review please!  
  
A/N 2: Sorry for the incredibly bad version of this chapter that was posted earlier. I thought I'd proof-read it, but apparently I hadn't. Sorry! I'll try not to let it happen again! 


	17. Hermione's Letter Author's Note

Chapter 17  
  
Hermione sat in her room, staring at the blank parchment in front of her.  
  
'Come on, girl,' she thought. 'Why is this so hard? Haven't they always been supportive of you before?'  
  
'No,' said another part of her brain. 'What about in third year? They thought you were crazy for taking so many classes. Besides, this is Malfoy and Snape. They would never be supportive of any kind of relationship between her and any of them. So how do I tell them what I have to do? How do I make them understand?'  
  
'You can't make them understand,' she thought. 'You can only give them the facts. It's up to them to understand.'  
  
With that, Hermione put quill to parchment and started the tale of her very short vacation.  
  
A/N: I know that this chapter is only, like, a paragraph long, but I had to get a real chapter out so that I could tell all of you that I probably won't update for a while. My computer has a virus and I'm updating this from the library. But I'll try to update soon as I can and I will continue to update from the library. Sorry for the delay, but I've had a bunch of stuff going on in my life. Hope you all have a glorious month of May! Oh, and I will answer all your questions about the Clan Lords in the next chapter, I promise. 


	18. All you wanted

Chapter 18  
  
"Thanks," said Ginny. "You're forgiven."  
  
"I appreciate that," said Harry. A moment of silence reigned over the two young people.  
  
"I love you, too, Harry Potter," said Ginny as she leaned her forehead against his.  
  
"Really?" Harry breathed.  
  
Ginny nodded and kissed him again, more passionately this time. "I have for a long time."  
  
"How can you love me after all the things I've done to you?" asked Harry. "All the times I should have been there and wasn't, all the times I could have said something, but didn't. Why would you still love me?"  
  
"I just do, Harry," said Ginny. "And I choose to forgive you those things because of it."  
  
"Thank you, Ginny, for loving me," said Harry, kissing the tip of her nose.  
  
"And thank you, Harry, for finally loving me back."  
  
Suddenly, two pairs of identical hands broke into applause from the doorway.  
  
"You owe me ten galleons, my friend," said Fred to his brother.  
  
"I know, but it was well worth it," said George. He entered the room and clapped Harry on the shoulder. "Jolly good show, Harry."  
  
"Take care of our little sister," said Fred. "And be careful about how you break the news to Ron."  
  
Harry paled. He hadn't even thought of telling Ron yet. "Do you think he'll be really angry?"  
  
"Well," said George, "it's hard to say. But just make sure there are witnesses around, all right, Harry?"  
  
Before Harry could reply, an owl swooped into the room from the open window and dropped a letter on Harry's head.  
  
"It's from Hermione," he said, "addressed to Ron and me."  
  
"Well, go on, Harry," said Ginny. "Open it."  
  
Harry opened the letter and read it completely before giving a report to the three Weasleys. "I think we'd better worry more about Ron's reaction to this," he said. "Apparently, Hermione and Malfoy are a couple."  
  
"A couple of what?" asked Fred.  
  
Ginny whacked him on the back of the head. "They are romantically involved, you idiot."  
  
"Oh," said Fred. "I see. What's she doing with Malfoy?"  
  
"Most likely shagging till the sun comes up," said George with a completely neutral face. Harry was too stunned to reply to the attack on his friend's honor.  
  
"We have to go back soon," he said. "And I have to tell Ron. He's not going to be happy when he hears this."

  
  
"Are you all right, Hermione?" asked Draco as he entered Hermione's room.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine," said Hermione. Draco's arms encircled her. "Have you resolved your issues with Professor Snape?"  
  
"Yes." Draco kissed her neck. "You taste wonderful," he said.  
  
"Thank you," said Hermione. Before things could go any further she said, "I've been thinking. About the prophecy, I mean."  
  
Draco sat back on his heels to look at Hermione. "What about it?"  
  
"Well," said Hermione, "what does it mean when it says, 'two will be bound'?"  
  
Draco looked at his hands, which were holding hers. "What do you think it means?" He looked into her eyes.  
  
"I think it means that we have to get married," she said. Draco opened his mouth to say something but Hermoine interrupted him. "It makes perfect sense. Marriage is one of the few wizard bonds that can't be broken. If you want to truly bind two people together, you marry them. Now, I know that you won't marry Professor Snape, and I know that I don't want to marry him. But I do know that I wouldn't be entirely opposed to the idea of marrying you."  
  
"I'm not entirely opposed to the idea of marrying you either," said Draco. "But Hermione, I think we should wait. I'm not sure how long, but I don't think we're ready for that, yet."  
  
"I agree. But I think it needs to be a plan for our future," said Hermione. She leaned over and kissed Draco.  
  
"I think so, too," said Draco as he kissed her. Gently and sweetly he massaged his lips against hers. She opened her mouth to him, and he plundered it with his tongue, exploring, searching, tasting. Her hands went up his back, tangled in his hair. She couldn't touch him enough. She felt something poking against her thigh. But suddenly, he pushed her away.  
  
"Wait," he said. "Wait. If I stay here, I won't be able to leave. I care about you, very much, Hermione," said Draco, "but I have to wait for this. Can you understand that?"  
  
Hermione nodded. "I need to wait for it, too." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Goodnight, Draco."  
  
"Goodnight, Hermione."

  
  
"She and Malfoy are WHAT??!!" screamed an irate Ron when he read Hermione's letter. "We're going back there, right now!"  
  
"No, Ron," said Ginny. "Hermione is of age. No one can make her do anything, especially not you."  
  
"NO! I'm going to stop her. She's making the biggest mistake of her life!" Ron refused to back down.  
  
"Then she can make it on her own," said Harry. "She doesn't need you or me to look after her. Hermione is a big girl."  
  
"Yeah, a big fool! I won't stand by and let Malfoy seduce her like this! It can't be allowed."  
  
"Well, then, little brother," said Fred, "we'll just have to tie you to the bedpost until vacation is over."  
  
Ron glared at his twin brothers. "Fine," he said. "But when I get back, I'm giving her a piece of my mind."  
  
"That's fine," said Harry. "All we're asking is that you let her alone to work things out by herself."  
  
Ron frowned in silence. It looked as though he would do that for the rest of vacation. More to shake things up a bit more than anything else, Harry said  
  
"Oh, by the way, Ron, Ginny and I are an item now as well."  
  
"WHAT?!?!" Ron roared.

  
  
In the wee hours of the morning, Severus Snape burst into Hermione's room and woke her with a start.  
  
"Miss Granger, something has happened that demands our urgent attention," he said.  
  
"What?" asked Hermione, sleep still fogging her vision.  
  
"Miss Granger, Draco is missing. No one can find him anywhere. He isn't in the castle. He's completely disappeared. It is feared that his father may have kidnapped him."  
  
A/N: I know, a cliffy! I'm so mean! But, now that school is out, I should be able to update sooner. Sorry this took so long, but I had a major case of writer's block. Hope this was to your liking! Review, please!


	19. Turkish Delight Not!

A/N: I know this chapter took forever and it's not very long, but please review anyway! I'm really trying! I'm just really busy, too!

Chapter 19

Hermione was pacing the room. She had to find him, someone had to find him. She was lost without him, she couldn't go on without him. They had to find him.

"Where is he?!" she almost shouted in frustration.

"Calm down, Hermione," said Dumbledore, as he leaned over books with Snape. "We are looking for him."

"How can staring at books help you look for Draco?" she asked, her eyes flashing.

"They are not books," said Snape smoothly, "they are maps."

"Well, whatever they are, just find him!" Hermione went back to pacing and biting her fingernails. Why oh why had she said those things to him earlier? He probably thought she hated him. But then, it hadn't seemed like it then. She have to ask him if, no when, they found him.

"He's here," said Severus.

"Where?" Hermione came to lean over the map with the two men.

"Turkey," Snape said.

"Let me pack some panties and I'll be ready to go," Hermione said, heading to her room.

"One moment, Hermione," said Dumbledore. "I do not want you leaving this castle. If Draco has been kidnapped, you are most likely a target as well. I want you to stay here, for your own safety."

"The hell I'm going to stay here!" she shouted. "I'm going to find the man I love and there's nothing either one of you can do about it!" Hermione went into her room and slammed the door.

Dumbledore sighed. "Don't let her leave, Severus. I'm worried about her, about all of you. Find Draco and bring him back."

"Yes, Headmaster," said Severus, nodding his head slightly.

"Thank you, Severus," Dumbledore said wearily. "Good night."

Severus remained in his spot until several seconds after Dumbledore had disappeared out the door. Then he knocked on Hermione's door.

"What is it?!" Hermione yelled.

"I would like to speak with you," Snape said in a low voice.

"What?" asked Hermione, flinging open the door.

"Remember to pack some extra socks with your panties. And a blanket, it might get chilly at night," Snape said.

Hermione's eyes widened. "You're letting me come?"

"Yes," said Severus. "But only if no one knows that I let you."

"Done," said Hermione.

"We leave immediately, take only what you need," Severus said. "Meet me just outside the Hogwarts gate in half an hour. Do not be late."

* * *

Draco Malfoy sat in a cold, dark room, bound and gagged. He didn't know where he was, only the crack of light coming in under what he assumed to be a door told him that there was light still somewhere in the world. He had no idea what time it was. Suddenly, the shuffle of boots was heard beyond the door and shadows disrupted the small crack of light.

"Well, well, well," said Lucius as he flung open the creaky door and stepped inside. "How are you Draco my boy?"

Draco glared at his father.

"Good," said Lucius. "Enjoying the view? Ah, what am I saying, you don't want to discuss you little trip, do you? You want to know why you're here. Well, I'm not going to tell you. I am, however, going to remove your gag. I love to hear the sweet voice of my progeny damning me to hell."

Lucius removed the gag from Draco's mouth. "Better?"

"Fuck you," said Draco.

"Apparently."

"Why did you bring me here?" Draco demanded.

"Now, didn't I just tell you that I wasn't going to tell you that? Someone should teach you to pay more attention." Lucius took out his wand and pointed it at Draco. "Cruico!"

Draco felt every nerve in his body explode with pain. Every sinew convulsed and every muscle spasmed as the curse drew every breath from his body. He saw white lights in the darkness of his eyelids just before his world became black again and the pain blissfully subsided.

"That is what you get for betraying me, son," said Lucius. "I am going to keep you here until the flesh rots from your bones and I can pick my teeth with them."

"They'll come find me," Draco murmured.

"They can try."

"They won't give up."

"You'd be surprised how easily friends can desert you when you need them most."

"And you'd be surprised how resilient my friends can be."

Lucius turned on his heel. "I grow tired of this game, Draco," he said.

"You're the one making the rules."

Lucius ignored him. "The Dark Lord wishes to meet with you again. Apparently, he feels the two of you have some unfinished business to conduct."

"Is that why I'm here?" Draco asked. "You're still a lackey for that pompous fool?" Draco reeled back as Lucius slapped him in the face.

"Never speak of the Dark Lord so insolently!" he shrieked.

"I only speak of what I know," Draco said.

"And I only speak what I know," Lucius' eyes gleamed with a possessed light. "On the blood of my ancestors you will die before you leave this place." With that, Lucius left Draco alone once again in the dark.

* * *

"Are you ready to go Miss – Hermione?" Snape asked.

"Yes," said Hermione. "But how are we getting there?"

"I'm apparating us," Severus said. He put his arms around her in an almost-hug. Hermione could feel the warmth of his chest and his breathing and could hear it hitch a little bit in his chest when she put her arms around him. "Hold on tight," he said before their world suddenly changed from the familiar land outside Hogwarts to an unfamiliar city.


End file.
